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Pakistan president Asif Zardari 'mortally wounded', says party
Senior figures in President Asif Zardari's Pakistan People's Party have said he has been "mortally wounded" by the reinstatement of the country's chief justice.
By Dean Nelson in New Delhi and Isambard Wilkinson in Islamabad
Last Updated: 12:20AM GMT 17 Mar 2009
Pakistan's president, Asif Zardari, is under pressure from within his party, the opposition and the army.
They warned he had been left vulnerable and could be ousted amid growing demands for his sweeping powers to be transferred to the prime minister.
Members of his own party publicly celebrated the climb-down and said it was a victory for democratic forces in the country.
She said: "We were really worried with the way things were going. How can we have people beaten and women dragged on the streets for voicing their opinions?"
Mr Zardari endured five days of turbulent protests and intense political pressure before ending an intense contest of brinkmanship with the opposition.
The reinstatement of Itikhar Chaudhry, who was sacked two years ago as chief justice by the former military ruler, Pervez Musharraf, signalled a historic victory for Pakistan's lawyers' movement.
One Pakistan People's Party source told The Daily Telegraph he had pleaded with President Zardari to give in to the lawyers' movement's demands, but he had derided them as "nothing".
Diplomats said they believed Mr Zardari's leadership was safe for now while the party waited for his and Benazir Bhutto's son Bilawal to emerge and take over the mantle.
But party figures last night said his wings would be clipped with a series of constitutional reforms to weaken the powers of the president.
They said that once he had lost the powers to dismiss elected governments and select the armed forces chiefs, there would be moves against him from within the party.
The Army Chief of Staff, General Ashfaq Kiyani, is thought to have played a key role in convincing Mr Zardari to reinstate Mr Chaudhry. The general met with the prime minister and Mr Zardari at the presidency in Islamabad at midnight before the decision was announced.
Lieutenant-General Talat Masood, an influential retired officer, said Mr Zardari had miscalculated.
"There was no way the army would have intervened. Zardari has been poorly advised and now he is definitely weakened. As a consequence, the prime minister's position is now considerably enhanced," he said.
Restoring the constitutional authority of the prime minister's office has been a key demand for Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted by General Musharraf in his 1999 coup.
Since leading the PPP to victory in last year's election, Mr Zardari has repeatedly pledged he would introduce a constitutional amendment to clip presidential powers, but has yet to do so.
Although Mr Zardari's climb-down was described by Pakistan's allies as an "act of political maturity" and applauded as "statesmanlike" by America's special envoy Richard Holbrooke, few in Pakistan saw it as anything but a defining moment in Pakistan's history and the beginning of the end of President Zardari's political career.
The crisis underscored splits in Mr Zardari's Pakistan People's Party (PPP). Two senior cabinet ministers resigned and Mr Zardari's "bunker" style of leadership has faced growing criticism. He has been accused of be ing cocooned with a coterie of questionable advisers, including his former physician.
Another senior former aide to Mr Zardari's late wife, Senator Dr Safdar Abbasi, said it was "unfortunate" that even government ministers had not been convinced by Mr Zardari's refusal to restore the chief justice.
"There are voices in the lower ranks of the party, an increasing cacophony against his leadership because of the widening gap between the people and the government. there's a feeling that the policies are not in accordance with what Madame Bhutto outlined, but power politics and manoeuvres," he said.
Zardari aides attempted to quickly put a positive gloss on the saga, claiming the restoration for the chief justice as a feather in the party's moth-eaten democratic cap.
Farahnaz Ispahani said:"We have taken the issue away from those who wanted to use mob violence and intimidation. We have taken the country out of the political crisis in an extremely mature and political way."
But as many Pakistanis were celebrating Mr Chaudhry's reinstatement a suicide bomb attack near a central bus stop in the evening in Rawalpindi killed eight people and wounded 20 others.
The attack destroyed the widespread sense of relief that had followed the political crisis' resolution and underscored the country's increasing lack of security.
It was the latest in a two-year long series of attacks in Pakistan's heartland carried out by extremists that have claimed the lives of hundreds of Pakistani citizens.
http:///www.telegraph.co.uk
Senior figures in President Asif Zardari's Pakistan People's Party have said he has been "mortally wounded" by the reinstatement of the country's chief justice.
By Dean Nelson in New Delhi and Isambard Wilkinson in Islamabad
Last Updated: 12:20AM GMT 17 Mar 2009
Pakistan's president, Asif Zardari, is under pressure from within his party, the opposition and the army.
They warned he had been left vulnerable and could be ousted amid growing demands for his sweeping powers to be transferred to the prime minister.
Members of his own party publicly celebrated the climb-down and said it was a victory for democratic forces in the country.
She said: "We were really worried with the way things were going. How can we have people beaten and women dragged on the streets for voicing their opinions?"
Mr Zardari endured five days of turbulent protests and intense political pressure before ending an intense contest of brinkmanship with the opposition.
The reinstatement of Itikhar Chaudhry, who was sacked two years ago as chief justice by the former military ruler, Pervez Musharraf, signalled a historic victory for Pakistan's lawyers' movement.
One Pakistan People's Party source told The Daily Telegraph he had pleaded with President Zardari to give in to the lawyers' movement's demands, but he had derided them as "nothing".
Diplomats said they believed Mr Zardari's leadership was safe for now while the party waited for his and Benazir Bhutto's son Bilawal to emerge and take over the mantle.
But party figures last night said his wings would be clipped with a series of constitutional reforms to weaken the powers of the president.
They said that once he had lost the powers to dismiss elected governments and select the armed forces chiefs, there would be moves against him from within the party.
The Army Chief of Staff, General Ashfaq Kiyani, is thought to have played a key role in convincing Mr Zardari to reinstate Mr Chaudhry. The general met with the prime minister and Mr Zardari at the presidency in Islamabad at midnight before the decision was announced.
Lieutenant-General Talat Masood, an influential retired officer, said Mr Zardari had miscalculated.
"There was no way the army would have intervened. Zardari has been poorly advised and now he is definitely weakened. As a consequence, the prime minister's position is now considerably enhanced," he said.
Restoring the constitutional authority of the prime minister's office has been a key demand for Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted by General Musharraf in his 1999 coup.
Since leading the PPP to victory in last year's election, Mr Zardari has repeatedly pledged he would introduce a constitutional amendment to clip presidential powers, but has yet to do so.
Although Mr Zardari's climb-down was described by Pakistan's allies as an "act of political maturity" and applauded as "statesmanlike" by America's special envoy Richard Holbrooke, few in Pakistan saw it as anything but a defining moment in Pakistan's history and the beginning of the end of President Zardari's political career.
The crisis underscored splits in Mr Zardari's Pakistan People's Party (PPP). Two senior cabinet ministers resigned and Mr Zardari's "bunker" style of leadership has faced growing criticism. He has been accused of be ing cocooned with a coterie of questionable advisers, including his former physician.
Another senior former aide to Mr Zardari's late wife, Senator Dr Safdar Abbasi, said it was "unfortunate" that even government ministers had not been convinced by Mr Zardari's refusal to restore the chief justice.
"There are voices in the lower ranks of the party, an increasing cacophony against his leadership because of the widening gap between the people and the government. there's a feeling that the policies are not in accordance with what Madame Bhutto outlined, but power politics and manoeuvres," he said.
Zardari aides attempted to quickly put a positive gloss on the saga, claiming the restoration for the chief justice as a feather in the party's moth-eaten democratic cap.
Farahnaz Ispahani said:"We have taken the issue away from those who wanted to use mob violence and intimidation. We have taken the country out of the political crisis in an extremely mature and political way."
But as many Pakistanis were celebrating Mr Chaudhry's reinstatement a suicide bomb attack near a central bus stop in the evening in Rawalpindi killed eight people and wounded 20 others.
The attack destroyed the widespread sense of relief that had followed the political crisis' resolution and underscored the country's increasing lack of security.
It was the latest in a two-year long series of attacks in Pakistan's heartland carried out by extremists that have claimed the lives of hundreds of Pakistani citizens.
http:///www.telegraph.co.uk
