This round of the battle between Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and the country’s democratic forces has gone to the latter. An attempt by the general to muzzle the media has failed thanks to a spirited fight put up by journalists and other sections of civil society. He has been forced to revoke restrictions on the media that were imposed through an emergency ordinance signed into law by the President last week. Under the new rules, official regulators were given the power to suspend licences and seal the premises of broadcasters or impose heavy fines on them for violating government directives. The restrictions were widely seen as an attempt to prevent the media from presenting the real picture of a country in turmoil before the Pakistani people. Massive rallies addressed by suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry and angry clashes between his supporters and the police over the past three months have pointed to the general’s growing unpopularity in the country. Journalists have been covering the protests in great detail and private television channels were bringing into homes vivid images of snowballing opposition to the Musharraf government. These reports obviously rattled the President as they pointed to his weakening hold. To deal with the problem, he decided to silence the messenger. Hence, the restrictions on the media.
But the general’s problems did not go away by silencing the media. On the contrary, they compounded them. Angry protests by journalists added to the unrest in the country. These, together with international pressure, have now forced him to back down on the issue. If President Musharraf was able to present an image of being a ‘dictator with a difference’ this was possible because he allowed press freedom in Pakistan. In fact, the freedom the media enjoyed under President Musharraf was greater than that under his democratic predecessor, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. It is a pity therefore that the general saw it necessary to clamp down on the media last week. He has ended up tarnishing his own legacy.
 It is evident that with every passing day, the general’s insecurity and isolation is growing. To end his isolation he will have to reach out to the people, negotiate and build bridges with sections that are in open confrontation with his regime. The ball is now in his court.