Press ponders Sharif's exile

Two major English-language newspapers in Pakistan have taken different views on the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's sudden exile to Saudi Arabia.

Dawn sees Mr Sharif's removal as an important step on the military government's promised return to democracy.

Its editorial comments that, "even though Mr Sharif was in prison, his presence here was a problem and a constraint for the military government.

This constraint having now been removed, "the military should feel more at ease and better placed to open up the clogged channels of democracy."

'Farce'

But The News International says the "farce which unfolded this weekend" will cause the public to lose faith in all talk about the rule of law.

Saudi Arabia's intervention in the affair will, it writes, damage the judiciary's reputation both at home and abroad.

"To agree to short-circuit the normal course of justice on a foreign country's request... makes Pakistan look like a banana republic whose laws can be mashed and manipulated by external influence."

The Washington Post shares this view, writing, "[Sharif's exile] raised doubts about Musharraf's commitment to curbing corruption and reforming the political system, two pillars of his agenda that initially caused Pakistanis to welcome the coup."

Political vacuum

Britain's Daily Telegraph is also among those, who think Mr Sharif's exile will be detrimental to democracy.

With Mr Sharif off the political scene, the Telegraph says the "political vacuum" has been increased, with no obvious figure to take over power when the army withdraws from government in two years' time.

"With most senior politicians in prison, exile or under house arrest, the army is now likely to try to set up a group of politicians who will do its bidding, but whether such a group could achieve political credibility is questionable," writes the Telegraph.

'Move towards democracy'

But Farhan Bokhari writing in the Financial Times sees the vacuum opened up by Mr Sharif's departure as an opportunity for a new generation of Pakistani politicians.

He also sees two possibilities arising from the new constellation of power in Pakistan.

"First, that the generals could acknowledge international pressure... by moving more quickly towards democracy now that the two most corruption-tainted figures are out of the way.

"Second, that the emergence of new political leaders... could result in Pakistan embarking on fundamental foreign policy changes, especially in seeking a truce with neighbouring India."

While few in the Pakistani press have shown much sympathy for Mr Sharif, The Guardian in the UK described it as an "ignominious end" to the career of the man, who was once Pakistan's most powerful prime minister and is now the first former prime minister to be exiled.