The president on Saturday gave control of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, widely seen as a move to fend off criticism by making good on electoral promises to devolve greater power to parliament. “It is a signal to political parties and the army that he is willing to accept his reduced position as a figurehead,” said Raees. But this will unlikely be enough to appease his critics.
The opposition Pakistan Muslim League-N is calling on Zardari to relinquish powers he inherited from Musharraf to dissolve parliament and sack the prime minister — the so-called 17th amendment to the constitution.
A key problem, Masood said, was that Zardari had very few allies left. “The media and military are not very supportive, which means his future is really uncertain and he will have to surrender his powers.”
Tensions have simmered between the army and Zardari for months, notably over a US aid package signed into law in Washington in October.
It earned a terse rebuke from army chief General Ashfaq Kayani, who expressed “serious concerns” about strings attached to some of the funding.
Any political fracas will likely unnerve Pakistan’s Western allies, who have been pressing Islamabad to expand a multi-pronged offensive launched earlier this year against Taliban rebels across swathes of the northwest.
The offensives have sparked a wave of retaliatory suicide bombings by the Taliban, with more than 430 people killed in Pakistan in the past two months. “Politicians are not paying attention to real issues; the war against the Taliban, suicide bombings and the economy,” said Hasan Askari, a visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University. “Pakistani politics is personalized, and only the issues which can pull down Zardari are being focussed on.”
The president on Saturday gave control of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, widely seen as a move to fend off criticism by making good on electoral promises to devolve greater power to parliament. “It is a signal to political parties and the army that he is willing to accept his reduced position as a figurehead,” said Raees. But this will unlikely be enough to appease his critics.
The opposition Pakistan Muslim League-N is calling on Zardari to relinquish powers he inherited from Musharraf to dissolve parliament and sack the prime minister — the so-called 17th amendment to the constitution.
A key problem, Masood said, was that Zardari had very few allies left. “The media and military are not very supportive, which means his future is really uncertain and he will have to surrender his powers.”
Tensions have simmered between the army and Zardari for months, notably over a US aid package signed into law in Washington in October.
It earned a terse rebuke from army chief General Ashfaq Kayani, who expressed “serious concerns” about strings attached to some of the funding.
Any political fracas will likely unnerve Pakistan’s Western allies, who have been pressing Islamabad to expand a multi-pronged offensive launched earlier this year against Taliban rebels across swathes of the northwest.
The offensives have sparked a wave of retaliatory suicide bombings by the Taliban, with more than 430 people killed in Pakistan in the past two months. “Politicians are not paying attention to real issues; the war against the Taliban, suicide bombings and the economy,” said Hasan Askari, a visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University. “Pakistani politics is personalized, and only the issues which can pull down Zardari are being focussed on.” (Sourced from: The Nation)
