David Miliband

Mortal Threat To Pakistan

I said on Radio 4 on Friday 6 March that domestic terrorism posed a mortal threat to Pakistan, especially combined with economic travails. The way out requires a huge act of will from the leading politicians - to come together and bury their differences in the face of a greater threat. This is all the more difficult in the light of the supreme court judgment that has barred opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, and his brother, the Chief Minister of the Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif, from contesting elections and holding public office.  But it is all the more necessary.  The people of Pakistan need their leaders to unite around a common platform to push back terrorism even where they compete on the terrain of normal political debate.  Terrorist threats to the integrity of Pakistan and the sustenance of its political systems are a bigger threat to the country than any politician can handle on his own.  The parties and politicians need to find a way to come together to take on the shared threat that democracy faces.

Posted at 13:34 08 March 2009 by David Miliband  |  Comments[1]