Zardari in Hot Water Over Assurances To Guarantors

ISLAMABAD: PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has assured foreign guarantors — Washington and London — that Musharraf will not be prosecuted.

A PPP source on Thursday said Zardari did not want to backtrack for the third time on his pledge to restore the judiciary, but his assurances to the international guarantors, who played a role in Musharraf’s resignation, have compelled him to review his Aug 7 agreement with Nawaz Sharif.

The agreement envisages that the judges would be restored immediately after the impeachment and/or resignation of the president. Meanwhile, Zardari was confronted by some of the MPs during his meeting with the PPP MNAs on Wednesday night. They were demanding that a party like PPP should never give indemnity to any dictator. But the agitating MPs were told that Washington and London were pressing for other things.

Asif Zardari, who according to most PPP leaders, always finds himself between the devil and the deep blue sea because of external pressures and local political situations, finally had to agree to Nawaz Sharif’s demand of restoration of the deposed judges. But a party source revealed that this issue was now being used as a bargaining chip by the PPP co-chairman.

“This is called brinkmanship,” the source said, adding that the situation had been created within no time to secure presidency for Zardari. “The PPP CEC has also been convened to pass a unanimous resolution, nominating Zardari as the presidential candidate,” the source said.

The source was sure that if the PML-N agreed to send Zardari to the presidency, the judges issue would be resolved despite his reservations on deposed chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

Another senior party leader, who met Zardari on Wednesday, said: “If the PPP does not protect Musharraf from a much-demanded trial, the guarantors would be after it. And if the government avoids or further delays restoration of the judges, the PML-N would quit the coalition.”

PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif has, however, already said that his party would wait for the restoration of “all the deposed judges” till Friday. Although Nawaz has remained firm on his stance on the judges issue as well as on the question of indemnity to Musharraf, the PPP sees Nisar Ali Khan, Javed Hashmir and Ahsan Iqbal as the real spoilers.

They are said to be behind Sharif’s inflexible stance on these thorny issues. PPP sources believe that the PML-N is playing politics to get popularity instead of reconciling with ground realities.

The ANP and the JUI-F are, however, said to be comfortable with the PPP’s stand on all the three issues. Asfandyar Wali and Fazlur Rehman are reportedly working on a constitutional package, which will also include some provisions to curtail the suo motu powers of the chief justice of Pakistan to pave the way for an amicable solution to the judges’ restoration issue.

However, the PML-N is adamant that the restoration should not be linked to any constitutional package. While the PPP seems comfortable with the reconciliatory efforts of these two new players, the PML-N does not have faith in them.

PML-N sources are of the view that Asfandyar and Maulana Fazl are ready to provide indemnity to Musharraf and are also ready to go with the PPP’s solution to the judges’ issue even if it excludes deposed chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry from the restoration process.

According to a senior PML-N leader, the duo is what he called “trading off” with the PML-N to find a middle way acceptable to both the PPP and the PML-N. To get the judges’ restored, the source said, the couple would ask the PML-N to soften its stance on Musharraf and the indemnity required for him.

A source, who met Maulana Fazl on Tuesday, said the JUI-F chief was confident that he would be able to save the coalition from collapsing. The Maulana was quoted to have said that Asif Zardari had committed in his agreement with Nawaz Sharif to restore the judges immediately after the impeachment or resignation of Musharraf. The Maulana, according to the source, had said that during the last meeting of the coalition partners Nawaz Sharif had desired to show the agreement to Asfandyar and Fazl to prove his point that Zardari was dithering yet again. On this, the PPP Co-chairman had pointed out that the agreement was a secret document which could not be shown to a third party. But now after seeing the agreement document, the two leaders have told Asif Zardari that there is no ambiguity in the agreement.

The Maulana was also reported to have said that he was eagerly requested by Nawaz Sharif to get the Aug 7 agreement implemented to resolve the prolonged judges’ issue. Because of the Aug 7 agreement, even PPP sources admit, Asif Zardari feels quite pressurized to take a decision on the judges’ issue. It was also because of these pressures that he is seeking resignation of Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

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One Elected President, Two Unelected Politicians

One Elected President, Two Unelected Politicians

In Beijing, world celebrates human achievement while in Islamabad we are stuck with politics

I wish our people and our leaders would understand that having political differences should not stand in the way of appreciating progress

Thanks to President Musharraf export revenue more than doubled, foreign direct investment increased from a meager $1 billion to $8 billion, and the Karachi stock exchange was widely touted as one of the best performing markets in the world.

This is a man who gave Pakistan a free television news culture and oversaw the freest election in our history.

This is a manufactured political crisis that will embolden Pakistan's ill-wishers and will sadly assure foreign investors that Pakistan is no place for their business.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—At the dawn of the Beijing Olympics, talk of Pakistan's chances at field hockey glory have taken a back seat to the de-facto national sport: Politics.

Beyond the hype, it's time to take a moment and examine the situation. It seems as if the nearly divorced coalition has decided to stick together in pursuit of the President's impeachment.

One would be convinced of their genuine commitment, if not for the fact that the last such joint press briefing was to announce the Murree Declaration, now defunct.

But it's important to look behind this smokescreen. After all, why would it take marathon talks if there weren't serious problems behind the scenes?

Farooq Naik, the law minister, was kicked out of the talks—twice.

According to a report in the Daily Times, Shahbaz Sharif felt that Naik could not be trusted amidst the Sindh High Court judges’ fiasco, and asked Zardari to remove him from the negotiations not only in the Prime Minister's House, but also at Zardari House.

I suppose it’s acceptable in political circles to ask your host to kick out his own guest.

In any case, a draft was agreed upon and presented to the nation for all to see. On the face of it, the case seems compelling for the common man: Musharraf has acted unconstitutionally, is responsible for the economic crisis, and he must go in order for democracy to flourish. A legal expert would be needed to examine the complex constitutional question, such as if the PCOs of 1999 and 2000 (both validated by the Supreme Court) are fair game for impeachment.

As for the economy and the democracy argument, things are a bit clearer.

It is hard to dismiss the vast economic improvements of Pakistan since 1999, and to float it as possible grounds for impeachment is laughable. Almost every major macro-economic indicator points to the economic turnaround of the past decade. Even if the 20-fold increase in foreign reserve levels can be whisked away as a byproduct of foreign aid, what about the results? On the business side, export revenue more than doubled, foreign direct investment increased from a meager $1 billion to $8 billion, and the Karachi stock exchange was widely touted as one of the best performing markets in the world. The National Commission for Human Development was conceived, helping achieve poverty reduction, a rise in literacy, and a 600% increase in funds for development programs. I wish our people and our leaders would understand that having political differences should not stand in the way of appreciating progress and pursuing our national interests; the economy being supreme.

As for democracy, it seems ironic that an elected President who oversaw the fairest elections in Pakistan's recent history is being cited as a hindrance for democracy by two unelected politicians.

But even more important is the fact that the duly elected Prime Minister, as well as the leading party's president (also an elected member of parliament) were both not present in the talks.

Makhdoom Amin Fahim has gone as far as to publicly separate himself from the Government, denounce the march to impeachment, and plead the Government to take notice of a very serious and rapidly deteriorating security and economic situation. He supposedly has even met with PML-Q leadership, which must have political analysts grabbing their calculators to re-analyze the number game in the event of some treasury members abstaining from an impeachment vote.

Critics of President Bush often rightfully say that the war in Iraq was a "war of choice." The impeachment saga is no different. In the face of unprecedented security threats in the tribal belt, with growing reports of foreign interference to destabilize the country, and an ever-worsening economy, this manufactured political crisis will embolden Pakistan's ill-wishers, and will sadly assure foreign investors that Pakistan is no place for their business.

No matter how impeachment goes, no one seems to win, as Pakistan is definitely the one to lose. Let's hope at least our Olympic team can change that.

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