Pakistan: New hopes for a change between military and mullahs?

BÖLL LUNCH LECTURE

Pakistan is once again facing a turbulent situation. A spotlight on the recent days reveals a rather bizarre political scenario: General President Musharraf has been elected last Saturday for a new five years term but will not be sworn in until a judgement of the Supreme Court on October 17 concerning his eligibility. His biggest opponent over the last decade, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has announced her return from exile on October 18 after a deal on “National Reconciliation” with Musharraf. In an ongoing civil war against Taliban and Al Qaida in the areas neighbouring Afghanistan the death toll from the last three days of fighting was around 250 people. As repercussion of the Red Mosque siege in July the state has lost its writ in large parts of the North Western Frontier Province where talibanisation is spilling over towards Islamabad.

Being a key US ally in the fight against terror and the reconstruction effort inside Afghanistan, Pakistan’s volatile domestic situation brings significant cause for concern and, in the words of Joschka Fischer, ‘a derailing nuclear weapon Pakistan might have even greater global consequences than the Iraq case’.

In this context, the EU Regional Office of the Heinrich Böll Foundation is organising a lunch lecture focusing on the current state of Pakistan affairs both domestically and internationally.

Speakers:
- Dr. Pervez Hoodhboy, Quaid-e-Azam University Islamabad
- Abbas Rashid, Journalist, Lahore
- Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa, Political Analyst & Author of ‘Military Inc.’
- Rukhshanda Naz, Lawyer, Human Rights Advocate, Peshawar
- Saima Jasam, Heinrich Böll Foundation, Lahore

Chair:
Claude Weinber, Director, EU Regional Office, Heinrich Böll Foundation

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