LFO.

One of the odd characteristics of U.S. coverage of Pakistan is that it has said virtually nothing, recently, about the ongoing struggle over the Legal Framework Order or LFO. Hardly a day goes by on which there is not some LFO-related news in the major English-language Pakistani newspapers (Dawn, Statesman, Nation), but American papers haven't said a word about it recently. This may have partly to do with the nature of the debate over the LFO: constitutional reform is not particularly sexy, I suppose. But that doesn't make it unimportant.

The LFO is a proposal by Musharraf issued in 2002. It does a lot of things, but one aspect that has been particularly controversial is the creation of a National Security Council which Musharraf heads and which detractors claim leads to the continuation of political influence on the part of Pakistan's military. The LFO also allows Musharraf to dissolve governing bodies and appoint members to the NSC, military, and courts. See Human Rights Watch's analysis here (PDF file), and the article in Himal here.

Some opposition party members have attempted to combat the LFO with hunger strikes, for example. And major Pakistani bar associations have vowed to fight it.

A group appointed to make recommendations to improve on the LFO and break the impasse between Musharraf and opposition parties will apparently finalize its discussions on Monday, according to this Gulf News report. Opposition parties will issue their own reports as well.

The lack of coverage of this issue in the U.S. press is a real shame. The dispute over the LFO shows at least that Musharraf does have to take opposition parties into account. They might not win very much in this dispute, but Musharraf hasn't been able to ignore them outright. Second, the dispute over the LFO is going to help determine the shape of Pakistani politics for years to come. Musharraf may succeed in his plans to create a permanent constitutional foundation for what will essentially be presidential and military rule in Pakistan, despite the strong opposition he is getting. How this fits in with the Bush administration's stated desire to democratize the islamic world is not clear.