With Pakistan on a virtual war footing to cope with a disaster on a colossal scale, Pakistanis may be taking comfort in having a leader like General Pervez Musharraf, who exudes confidence and determination. But Musharraf must counter unhappiness with the initial performance of the army, to which his image is closely tied. A soldier who seized power in a bloodless coup six years ago, the general’s style is to tell it like it is.

“Those who died cannot come back, but it is in our hands to work for a better future of the affected areas and their people,” Musharraf said in a passionate address to the nation calling for aid and unity to avert a humanitarian crisis. “It seems inevitable that the army’s reputation will suffer from this,” said Robert Hathaway, a Pakistan watcher at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington.

The strong and decisive image like Musharraf’s works in the early stages, analysts say, but what about in the longer term? “A strong man instils confidence in the short term, but in the long term politics is about how people relate to each other,” said Husain Haqqani, a former adviser to three Pakistani prime ministers and a frequent critic of Musharraf’s form of democracy. “There will be a long-term questioning of the relationship between the citizenry and the Pakistan state,” said Haqqani, currently at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, pointing to a budget where defence accounts for 20 percent of spending.

<B> “Musharraf says corruption at the top has been eradicated under him, in a jibe aimed against the mainstream opposition parties of exiled former premiers Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto.” </B>

In charge of rescue-and-relief work, the army is struggling to reach thousands of villagers still cut off in the more remote valleys of Pakistan’s Kashmir. Destitute and bereaved people in Kashmir and North West Frontier Province spoke bitterly at the lack of help when they needed it most. It took 72 hours for the army to fully mobilise, and even then it was woefully short of resources to deal with a disaster on such a colossal scale with nearly 40,000 confirmed deaths so far.

Musharraf has been seen in army fatigues flying hither and thither overseeing relief and rescue operations, but on Saturday it was clear he was feeling the heat from negative press: “See the positive,” he said at a hastily arranged news conference. Sympathy and a sense of national purpose forestalled stronger criticism of the military’s initial response, but if homeless are not spared more suffering during the winter and reconstruction work is mismanaged, a blame game will start.

“It is a major challenge for the government,” said Hasan-Askari Rizvi, a Lahore-based political analyst. One general is in charge of the relief operations, while another with an engineering pedigree has been appointed to the Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority overseeing the long-term recovery effort. Musharraf gave the nation assurances last week that all funds donated to the earthquake relief effort would be handled with complete transparency. About $ 500 million has been pledged from abroad so far, while $ 50 million has been raised domestically, and the United Nations has increased its appeal for Pakistan to over $300 million.

The government of popular leftist PM Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was beset with allegations of graft in the aftermath of another earthquake in Kashmir in 1974.

Though some government ministers are dogged by old cases, Musharraf says corruption at the top has been eradicated under him, in a jibe aimed against the mainstream opposition parties of exiled former premiers Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto. The president also needs to be concerned about the success of various Islamist groups, including some linked to militant organisations that Musharraf banned but failed to dismantle, who were at the forefront of relief operations in afflicted areas before the army arrived. Analysts say the government should beware that the Islamists do not capitalise on the goodwill they are earning in Kashmir and NWFP.

<B>Simon Cameron-Moore</B>