Zardari is a wonderful player. No one really imagined, not Mr. Nawaz Sharif, that Zardari would turn out to be such a deft player with so many trump cards. He is not only playing with Nawaz or other likewise politicians, he is certainly playing with the entire nation. And till now he is winning. And that's bad news for all of us.
Zardari is now touted as the most powerful president of the country. This may not be yet true. For me, Gen. Musharraf was a more powerful, but less revengeful, president. And he certainly held sway over Pak army. Zardari is being looked with increasing suspicion by the generals in uniform. Till now he has done nothing to merit their displeasure or his ouster.
Lot of people think that Zardari is Mr. 10% (my uncle comments that now that he is the President of a god-forsaken country, he is likely to be Mr. 110%). Being 10% is not good especially when businessmen are sure that Mr. Zardari has been responsible for spate of kidnap-for-ransom. That looks pretty bad for a president. He has also spent over 9 years in Pakistani prison(s) for which he must have suffered a lot of mental displeasure. Most of those cases remain cases only. None of them have ever been proved by any court in the country. And the cases in Swiss court were swiftly withdrawn by then President, Musharraf. (Musharraf, while playing golf, would rethink his stupidity).
Writing in Guardian newspaper, Mr. Peter Preston has this to say on the present situation of the country and about Zardari's outcome:
'Yet the Taliban, whom the generals must defeat to get America's billions, are much more than a gang of terrorist thugs. They are also a madcap reform movement of young men disgusted by corruption and the godless wheeler-dealers they think have drained the purity out of Jinnah's "pure state", and the success they're experiencing in the borderlands and beyond shows that many ordinary Pakistanis agree with them. It's a battle for hearts and minds and, on his record, Asif Ali Zardari is the predestined loser of last resort.'
This is one more problem with Zardari: he is often referred to as the husband of Benazir Bhutto. Zardari has already shown the door, by not appointing any good friends of BB, to the loyalists of BB. He has also clearly noted distinction b/w friends and friends of BB. Zardari has another more serious problem. He is clearly seen as an American boy back in the country and that most Pakistanis don't approve of him.
Tariq Ali, leading writer on politics of the region and history, has this to say on Zardari in his article, published in Guardian on 7th Sep, 2008:
'Zardari fitted the bill. He is perfectly suited to being a total creature of Washington. The Swiss government helpfully decided to release millions of dollars from Zardari's bank accounts that had, till now, been frozen due to the pending corruption cases. Like his late wife, Zardari, too, is now being laundered, just like the money he made when last in office as minister for investment. This weakness will make him a pliant president of Pakistan.'
If Zardari wishes to survive as the President of the country, he needs to take some really drastic steps. First, he should immediately get deposed CJ back to office. Secondly, he must get a negotiated settlement with the militants of Swat and FATA region. (We know for sure that most of these militants are trained in Afghanistan and funded ably by US CIA and India's RAW. Same is the case with BLA of Baluchistan). Zardari must also secure Pakistan's border and shoot down any militant crossing into Pakistan or from it. For this, he needs active support from Pakistan Army.
My prediction: Zardari will do US bidding with total dis-regard for the safety of the country. He wishes to throw the country in total chaos and will be instrumental in the future break-up of this country.
Writing in Guardian newspaper, Mr. Peter Preston has this to say on the present situation of the country and about Zardari's outcome:
'Yet the Taliban, whom the generals must defeat to get America's billions, are much more than a gang of terrorist thugs. They are also a madcap reform movement of young men disgusted by corruption and the godless wheeler-dealers they think have drained the purity out of Jinnah's "pure state", and the success they're experiencing in the borderlands and beyond shows that many ordinary Pakistanis agree with them. It's a battle for hearts and minds and, on his record, Asif Ali Zardari is the predestined loser of last resort.'
This is one more problem with Zardari: he is often referred to as the husband of Benazir Bhutto. Zardari has already shown the door, by not appointing any good friends of BB, to the loyalists of BB. He has also clearly noted distinction b/w friends and friends of BB. Zardari has another more serious problem. He is clearly seen as an American boy back in the country and that most Pakistanis don't approve of him.
Tariq Ali, leading writer on politics of the region and history, has this to say on Zardari in his article, published in Guardian on 7th Sep, 2008:
'Zardari fitted the bill. He is perfectly suited to being a total creature of Washington. The Swiss government helpfully decided to release millions of dollars from Zardari's bank accounts that had, till now, been frozen due to the pending corruption cases. Like his late wife, Zardari, too, is now being laundered, just like the money he made when last in office as minister for investment. This weakness will make him a pliant president of Pakistan.'
If Zardari wishes to survive as the President of the country, he needs to take some really drastic steps. First, he should immediately get deposed CJ back to office. Secondly, he must get a negotiated settlement with the militants of Swat and FATA region. (We know for sure that most of these militants are trained in Afghanistan and funded ably by US CIA and India's RAW. Same is the case with BLA of Baluchistan). Zardari must also secure Pakistan's border and shoot down any militant crossing into Pakistan or from it. For this, he needs active support from Pakistan Army.
My prediction: Zardari will do US bidding with total dis-regard for the safety of the country. He wishes to throw the country in total chaos and will be instrumental in the future break-up of this country.
1 comment:
'Having known Asif Zardari for well over two decades, and having seen the tremendous ups and downs in his personal and political life, it’s hard to imagine him as the President of Pakistan. In the best of times in his previous incarnation, his political identity was that of being Benazir Bhutto’s husband. In fact, Mr Zardari always said in his conversation with his friends and party loyalists that his identity, popularity, and sufferings were all because he was Benazir Bhutto’s husband.'
further,
'In those days the best place to meet and chat with Mr Zardari was Rawalpindi’s accountability court. By that time he had become a veteran jailbird and having learnt the trick of creating a medical situation, he had gotten himself shifted to a hospital. So, on most occasions he used to be brought to the court house in an ambulance and to the courtroom in a wheelchair. The court proceedings rarely moved beyond the discussion on deciding the next date of hearing, and for the rest of the duration the place used to turn into what can best be described as Zardari’s court-house, ‘darbar’.
'
read more here:
http://www.dawn.com/2008/09/10/top6.htm
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