‘Victory for Democracy’

Now Zardari has to use that victory as a tool to fashion policies that will save the country from what many say is impending disaster. Unfortunately his performance while his wife served as prime minister is certainly not encouraging. "He will have to rise above his previous reputation of being Mr. Ten or Twenty Percent, and of having placed his cronies here and there," says Amir. He has not really outlined a vision for the country other than saying he wants it to be "free, pluralistic and democratic." Lahore-based political science professor Rasul Bakhsh Rais adds: "He has not shown us any vision as to which direction he will take us. We hope he will acquire the confidence of the people, and that he can evolve quickly from a very sharp, shrewd, wheeler-dealer into an internationally respected statesman."

Perhaps one of Zardari's first tests will be whether he practices what he preaches, and agrees to shed the presidency of the power to dissolve parliament. Now that Zardari is president and has immunity from prosecution, there is also talk that he may surprise many of his doubters and critics by reinstating Justice Chaudhry. In recent days the PPP-led government has already restored three Supreme Court justices and a dozen more lower court judges to the bench who had been removed by Musharraf under his state of emergency decree last year. Above all, Pakistanis hope Zardari will not turn into another autocrat given his extensive presidential powers. "The country can no longer afford personalized rule," says Nasim Zehra, a respected political columnist. "We desperately need institutionalized, transparent and competent decision making especially regarding the economy and security policy."

Indeed, Zardari's relations with the powerful military will be crucial. The military already mistrusts him as a result of the past corruption allegations, Pakistani security sources say. Nor did he endear himself to the generals when in late July the government announced it was transferring command of Pakistan's intelligence service (ISI) to the Interior Ministry that is headed by a close Zardari associate. Feeling the immediate heat from the military, the government immediately reversed its decision, but the damage had been done. One senior government official with close ties to the military says that the generals saw that ham-fisted move as "the first strike" against Zardari. "In baseball you only get three strikes," he quickly adds. Knowing that the military was suspicious of Zardari, some of his staunchest critics even seemed to hope that the generals would step in to prevent his election. One of Pakistan's most widely read English-language newspapers, The News, put on its front page an opinion piece written by one of its top editors asking "whether [military] intervention to stop the situation going totally out of hand is advisable?"

Army chief Parvez Kayani is in no mood to intervene in politics—at least not yet. He has studiously removed the army from playing any direct political role since he assumed the top slot from Musharraf late last year. He should be rather pleased with Zardari's unflinching support of the military's recent offensives in the tribal area, particularly in Bajaur where the security forces claim to have killed several hundred militants in ground, artillery and air attacks over the past three weeks. Ever since the new government replaced Musharraf after last February's elections, the generals have been trying to get the ruling coalition to take "ownership" of their aggressive military campaign against the tribal insurgents and Al Qaeda along the border. In a recent Washington Post op-ed piece, Zardari did just that. "I will work to defeat the domestic Taliban insurgency and to ensure Pakistan territory is not used to launch terrorist attacks against our neighbors or on NATO forces in Afghanistan," he wrote. "We stand with the U.S., Britain, Spain and others who have been attacked. The war we are fighting is our own war."

That's music to the ears of the Bush administration and to presidential rivals John McCain and Barack Obama as well. They are publicly committed to urging, if not forcing, Pakistan "to do more" to combat extremism and end cross border attacks into Afghanistan. Zardari seems to be on board. Still, satisfying the demands of the United States in the war on terror will be difficult enough. Curing Pakistan's economic, social and political ills will even be harder.

© 2008