Coalition of the Unwilling

 

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This past weekend Zardari continued to wax cool on the judges, telling the BBC that any agreements he may have made: "are not holy like the Qur'an," and that "there can be a rethink of anything." To make matters worse, on Saturday the PPP nominated Zardari as its candidate to stand in the indirect presidential election to be held Sept. 6, a move that is supported by the PPP's other coaliton partners.

Sharif on the other hand had been pushing hard for neutral figure to replace Musharraf, someone who would serve as a figurehead president, stripped of the draconian powers Musharraf had accumulated. Clearly Sharif is not keen on having Zardari in the presidency that wields the power to dissolve the National Assembly and to appoint the three military service chiefs. In an interview with NEWSWEEK last week, Zardari said he saw presidency as a more "ceremonial" post. But few Pakistanis believe that if he gets the job he will strip the position of its many perquisites and powers.

Clearly the two men and their parties could not cohabitate together any longer. The most immediate casualty will be the country's already wobbly economic and political stability. "It's a very bad sign," says political scientist and columnist Hasan Askari Rizvi of Sharif's decision. "Pakistan and its democratic forces will be weakened if these two major political forces spend all their energy fighting against each other."

"I'm afraid we will have uncertainty continuing for an indefinite period of time," he adds. "Everyone's disappointed." Indeed, Pakistan may start seeing more public protests by the lawyers' movement next month, demanding Chaudhry's immediate reinstatement. The lawyers spearheaded the public protests in support of Chaudhry last year that helped to galvanize the broad-based anti-Musharraf movement.

Sharif's walking away from the coalition is expected to start a major political realignment among smaller parties. Sharif can also increase his popularity by having his own party snipe at the government from opposition benches. But that strong opposition could well undercut the flagging anti-extremist fight.

Zardari is said to support U.S. counterterror goals in Pakistan, by and large. "It is our country, and we will defend it," he told the BBC this past weekend. But, he added: "I think at the moment they [the Taliban] definitely have the upper hand."

Sharif, by contrast, is skeptical of Washington's aims in the war against Islamic militants and will doubtlessly be critical of any government moves to increase military actions along the frontier where the Taliban and Al Qaeda have established safe havens and bases for launching attacks into neighboring Afghanistan.

With the new coalition looking even more unstable than the last, the road ahead appears to be perilous indeed, and not only for Pakistan.

© 2008

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Member Comments

  • Posted By: Sultan Ahmed @ 09/08/2008 11:02:37 AM


    cOALITION OF UNWILLING,
    have some considerable arguments,
    be sure would acceptable ,never not unacceptable,

    A great conspiracy was hatched,
    against Z.A.Butto,
    on the islam cleric parties were in the feild,
    start movement,named NIZAM-MUSTAFA,

    many hypocrits contacted with power,
    who dislike to see pakistan as nuclear power,
    they were supported by torential rain of dollars,
    and drenching rain of weapons,
    as provided in the war aginst Russia,
    when he occupied Afghanistan.

    Butto was arrested and prosecuted hanged innocentely,
    because there was no witness in the case,
    no independent reliable circumstancial evidence,
    no crime weapon was recovered from accused,
    there was also no confessional statement on the record.

    But he was hanged
    and a door of state history was close
    father of Benazir Butto, founder and chairman of
    newly formed party pakistan People Party.

    Choudher Zahoor Ullahi,was a active and rich political leader,
    who opposed butto when he was in jail and facing trial.
    he supported zia and influenced rejecting the mercy pitition of mr butto.

    In the revenge ,
    ppp prepared some activist,
    choudhery was attacked
    when he with a justice of the hahore coming out the court's premisise,
    father of choudhery shujayat hussain died at the sopt.

    When i consider those days,
    i see,
    they were united ,
    under the leadership of general zia,
    there were unique relations
    between zia and nawaz sharife,
    in the very short time ,there was air crashe
    and zia ul haq removed the forever.

    Keeping whole circumstances in minde
    we are complled to think ,
    really think,past history of the country'spolitical scaniro,
    is great harbinger of unwilling...........coalition of the unwilling

  • Posted By: torkham @ 09/07/2008 11:41:11 AM

    Zardari created the coalition with Sharif to consolidate his position within his party and with smaller parties
    in other provinces. His character of wheeler-Dealer remains intact and he successfully used that with the doctors in New York to declare him mentally incapacitated? In order to escape court procedures in London
    and Zurich. Having so far freed himself from Sharif on issue of restoration of Judges and only allowing the
    ones who have given in writing that they will abide by his rules, to retake the oath in their respective courts.
    One question remains can he wiggle himself out of the agreements he has signed with US administration
    through his closest advisors. The troika of Durrani-Haqqani-Malik.

  • Posted By: Iconoblaster @ 09/03/2008 6:11:37 PM

    Its foolish to blame God for the incompetence and corruption of the governments of men... and plainly wrong to claim that all nations get the governments "they" deserve.... this is a dishonest device to dismiss the injustices particular governments do, and the innocent individuals they victimize. Does topgungsm believe that the Jews of Poland and Czechoslovakia were responsible for their own murders by the governments imposed on their countries? Are the Chechens responsible for the oppression of their people by Moscow? Were the Armenians to blame for the actions of the Turks who killed them? MOST people in the world have no real power over the governments that rule them. MOST individuals on the planet are fully occupied with the struggle to survive and raise their families, and are in no position to defy or to demand anything from whatever thugocracy may be in charge of their national government at a given time.

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