Spring Onion
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ISLAMABAD: Without a formal announcement, Benazir Bhutto and Maulana Fazlur Rehman have joined hands to stab the opposition in the back, after being prodded by Uncle Sam.
Confirming speculations, a senior US official Richard Boucher finally admitted on Friday in Washington that he played his role in the recent initiation of deal-dialogue between President Musharraf and Ms Bhutto, adding that Washington desired to see the moderate forces ruling Pakistan.
There are some amongst the opposition who believe that Maulana Fazl's somersaults are also the result of a conspiratorial wink from Washington. Fazl was always considered the government's man disguised as an opposition leader.
Lt Gen (retd) Hameed Gul told The News that like Ms Bhutto, Maulana Fazl has also cut a deal with the Americans and was playing a dubious political role as per the script written by the US. He said that in the All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) meeting, Hafiz Hussain Ahmad had assured the opposition leaders that the Maulana had given his assent to the resignation move.
Though Ms Bhutto and Fazl might seem poles apart from each other and at times publicly attack each other, they had a happy time together as partners in the coalition government in the mid 90s with Benazir as the prime minister and the Maulana as the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the National Assembly.
Gul dispelled the impression that Fazl has or even had any direct link with the Taliban, the factor that today really matters to those who decide the future of Pakistan. "Some of his MNAs had links with the Taliban," he said, lamenting that the opposition was badly divided and short of the right strategy to effectively respond to Musharraf's bid for re-election as the President of Pakistan without doffing his uniform.
Much to the shock of the APDM, on the very day it had announced the date (September 29) for en bloc resignations, Fazl refused to endorse the decision, arguing that he was not consulted. The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam of the Maulana, who is the opposition leader in the National Assembly, has the majority number of MNAs in the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal. It was also his party that dominates both the NWFP and Balochistan Assemblies and has formed governments there.
The Pakistan People's Party that has kept itself at bay from the joint opposition i.e. the APDM on the issue of the presidential election and Maulana Fazl have left the opposition badly divided at a time when its unity was the key to counter the president's re-election bid. Now, no one is sure even in the opposition about the number of MNAs who would quit their seats on September 29. Dissolution of the NWFP Assembly, where the leader of the House is JUI's Akram Durrani, and the resignation of JUI MPAs from the Balochistan Assembly now seem all the more difficult.
This situation is, however, really amusing for the government. Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sher Afgan Khan Niazi, when contacted, was joking while discussing the badly-divided opposition. He was not ready to accept that even a single opposition MP would resign on September 29. "Let me assure you they would not resign," he said, adding that Musharraf would be re-elected for another term on October 6 without any problem.
He laughed at the opposition's "unanimity" on the issue of the president's re-election and said Maulana Fazl and Maulana Samiul Haq had already made it clear that they would not resign while the Benazir-led PPP was saying that it would discuss the matter after September 29.
For Musharraf's continuation in the office, the biggest contributor so far has been Fazlur Rehman. But today Ms Bhutto is playing the lead role while Fazl is trying to catch her to provide a lifeline to the top general who was never as vulnerable as he is today.
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Link is bellow
Benazir, Fazl doing US bidding
Confirming speculations, a senior US official Richard Boucher finally admitted on Friday in Washington that he played his role in the recent initiation of deal-dialogue between President Musharraf and Ms Bhutto, adding that Washington desired to see the moderate forces ruling Pakistan.
There are some amongst the opposition who believe that Maulana Fazl's somersaults are also the result of a conspiratorial wink from Washington. Fazl was always considered the government's man disguised as an opposition leader.
Lt Gen (retd) Hameed Gul told The News that like Ms Bhutto, Maulana Fazl has also cut a deal with the Americans and was playing a dubious political role as per the script written by the US. He said that in the All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) meeting, Hafiz Hussain Ahmad had assured the opposition leaders that the Maulana had given his assent to the resignation move.
Though Ms Bhutto and Fazl might seem poles apart from each other and at times publicly attack each other, they had a happy time together as partners in the coalition government in the mid 90s with Benazir as the prime minister and the Maulana as the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the National Assembly.
Gul dispelled the impression that Fazl has or even had any direct link with the Taliban, the factor that today really matters to those who decide the future of Pakistan. "Some of his MNAs had links with the Taliban," he said, lamenting that the opposition was badly divided and short of the right strategy to effectively respond to Musharraf's bid for re-election as the President of Pakistan without doffing his uniform.
Much to the shock of the APDM, on the very day it had announced the date (September 29) for en bloc resignations, Fazl refused to endorse the decision, arguing that he was not consulted. The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam of the Maulana, who is the opposition leader in the National Assembly, has the majority number of MNAs in the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal. It was also his party that dominates both the NWFP and Balochistan Assemblies and has formed governments there.
The Pakistan People's Party that has kept itself at bay from the joint opposition i.e. the APDM on the issue of the presidential election and Maulana Fazl have left the opposition badly divided at a time when its unity was the key to counter the president's re-election bid. Now, no one is sure even in the opposition about the number of MNAs who would quit their seats on September 29. Dissolution of the NWFP Assembly, where the leader of the House is JUI's Akram Durrani, and the resignation of JUI MPAs from the Balochistan Assembly now seem all the more difficult.
This situation is, however, really amusing for the government. Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sher Afgan Khan Niazi, when contacted, was joking while discussing the badly-divided opposition. He was not ready to accept that even a single opposition MP would resign on September 29. "Let me assure you they would not resign," he said, adding that Musharraf would be re-elected for another term on October 6 without any problem.
He laughed at the opposition's "unanimity" on the issue of the president's re-election and said Maulana Fazl and Maulana Samiul Haq had already made it clear that they would not resign while the Benazir-led PPP was saying that it would discuss the matter after September 29.
For Musharraf's continuation in the office, the biggest contributor so far has been Fazlur Rehman. But today Ms Bhutto is playing the lead role while Fazl is trying to catch her to provide a lifeline to the top general who was never as vulnerable as he is today.
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Link is bellow
Benazir, Fazl doing US bidding
