Interview - ABC 774

Subjects: Musharraf resignation, Pakistan

ALI MOORE: Well, it's been a long time coming, but Pakistan's President, Pervez Musharraf, has stepped down from office after nine years in power, he was facing a move by the Coalition Government to impeach him. He came to power in a 1999 coup. Stephen Smith, Foreign Affairs Minister, joins me now. Stephen Smith, good morning.

STEPHEN SMITH: Good morning, Ali.

MOORE: What does this mean for stability in Pakistan?

SMITH: Well, we hope that it leads to a period of political stability, which will enable the Pakistan Government and the Pakistan Parliament, and the Pakistan political leadership to address the very serious issues and problems that Pakistan has. And so far as Australia is concerned, that in particular means coming to grips with the extremism in terrorism that we find in the so-called Fatah areas, the border regions between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

MOORE: But how confident are you we will get that stability, given that you've got - a Coalition Government has been in power for about four months, both the Coalition leaders, Zardari and Sharif have faced corruption charges, can they control the army?

SMITH: Certainly in terms of the army, General Kiyani, the army chief has made it clear in the past that he has no interest in seeking to do anything other than perform a military role, and that's been his consistent position since he became the Chief of the Army, and we certainly hope that he remains true to that.

We were very pleased at the beginning of this year, when in very terrible circumstances following Mrs Bhutto's assassination, that Pakistan stuck to course, and had their election, and we saw democracy return to Pakistan. Since then, we've seen effectively political in-fighting between the elected parliamentarians and former president, Musharraf. Our view on that was that was something that the Pakistan political process had to determine.

That's now occurred, and we hope that that now enables Pakistan to move forward, with stability, to address these very serious issues. Because they're not just issues for Pakistan, they're not just bilateral issues between Pakistan and Afghanistan, they have very serious implications for the region, and very serious implications for the international community, and very serious implications for the nearly 1100 troops that Australia has in Oruzgan Province in Afghanistan.

MOORE: Well, I mean, as you said, there's an economic challenge, the economy's a mess, but I guess more importantly from Australia's point of view, it's the battle with the Taliban, what are the implications, and I'm reading that that is verging on all-out war?

SMITH: Well, when the Government came to office at the end of last year, we had to consider Afghanistan as one of the very serious issues that we had to deal with when we came to office. It very quickly became apparent to us that the Afghanistan problem was linked to Pakistan, was linked to the Federally administered territory areas, the so-called Fatah areas, in the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

And I've made it clear to my Pakistan counterpart, Foreign Minister Qureshi, that Australia sees that as being of very serious concern, and we stand ready, willing and able to render assistance to Pakistan, both in terms of general development assistance, in supporting their Parliamentary and democratic institutions, but also in technical advice in terms of them coming to grips and combating the difficult situation they face in that area.

Your point about the economy is also right, that we need now to see the Pakistan Government focus on its economic difficulties. Because what we want to see is a Pakistan emerge which is just not a place of security and stability, but also a place where its potential for a good economy can flourish and bring a better measure of prosperity to its own people.

MOORE: Minister, do you think that there is a better chance of that outcome now that Musharraf has gone?

SMITH: Well certainly in terms of the Parliamentary or the democratically elected institutions, yes, I do. A lot of the focus of the elected Parliamentarians was on the President. Their view of course was that the President came to office by military coup, assumed the Office of President, and they come to office, or to the Parliament by the democratic voice of the Pakistani people.

So I do think, and I hope, that it will enable them to now focus on their political management of the Pakistan Government, and the Pakistan nation, and enable them to see their way clear to start addressing the very serious issues that we've spoken about, whether they're economic, whether they're peace and security, whether they're development assistance or governance issues.

MOORE: What about Musharraf? Do you think that he'll leave Pakistan now?

SMITH: Well, that's a matter for him, and for the Pakistanis' political processes, you know, I've been asked on a number of occasions, what's my view of Musharraf, his legacy, and my response has essentially been, I'm happy to leave that to the historians, or to analysts. I'm much more concerned about the now and the future, and what we do now need to see, is a period of political stability, where these very serious issues can be addressed by Pakistan, with the support of the regional community, and with the support of the international community, and that obviously includes Australia.

As a general comment, I think Australia needs to up its relationship with Pakistan, to increase its dialogue, generally, as well as in the very serious security issues that we have, so far as the border region is concerned.

MOORE: You say you like to leave the legacy to others, and look at the future, but I guess in many ways the future is usually informed by the past. You have no sense of how he will be judged in history?

SMITH: Like any political player, and ultimately he became a political player, he'll have his supporters and his detractors.

MOORE: A very political answer. [Laughs] Stephen Smith...

SMITH: Some might say, diplomatic.

MOORE: Yes, that's what I probably meant to say. Stephen Smith, thank you very much for joining us.

SMITH: Thanks very much, Ali.

MOORE: Stephen Smith there, the Foreign Affairs Minister.

[Ends]

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