BanglaBhoot
RETIRED TTA
![](/styles/default/xenforo/ranks/General.jpg)
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2007
- Messages
- 8,839
- Reaction score
- 5
- Country
- Location
Pakistan's President, Asif Zardari, has lifted direct rule in Punjab province and promised to cede more powers in a bid to defuse a dangerous political crisis.
The unpopular President has been forced into making humiliating climbdowns since February when he miscalculated by summarily removing the main opposition party from power in Punjab, the biggest province. He had little choice after losing a power struggle with his bitter rival Nawaz Sharif, and encountering growing criticism from within his own party.
He also promised last night to begin the process of transferring key powers, including the power to dismiss parliament, to his prime minister, Yusuf Raza Gilani. But he referred the matter to a parliamentary committee, raising doubts about whether he really intended to share power.
His relieved supporters hoped that his climbdowns will be enough to head off a popular movement that had threatened to sweep him from power, and yesterday he was making conciliatory statements towards his bitter rival, the opposition leader Nawaz Sharif.
Western diplomats fear that political wrangling between Pakistan's elected leaders has undermined the fight against an increasingly dangerous Taliban insurgency.
They have been particularly alarmed by the Taliban's takeover in Swat, an alpine tourist destination less than 100 miles from the capital which was a popular tourist destination only a year ago.
Now it is feared that the valley is being turned into a military base for attacks on Nato forces in next-door Afghanistan, even as Islamist fighters set up their own administration with courts and checkpoints.
American and British diplomats helped broker an end to the current political crisis which began when the Supreme Court banned the president's rival, Mr Sharif, from power in his home province of Punjab.
But since then Mr Zardari has been forced by mass protests first to restore as Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, the judge whose sacking by the former military ruler Pervez Musharraf became a cause celebre for Pakistan's democrats. Now he has been forced into a second climbdown by lifting the ban on Mr Sharif.
Mr Sharif's brother, Shahbaz, who until February had been Punjab's chief minister, had also been forbidden from holding office.
In recent weeks Mr Sharif has been able to pose as a champion of democracy to lead mass anti-government protests, although he has a tainted past and was himself accused of epic corruption when he was prime minister more than a decade ago.
Mr Zardari has faced increasing pressure from within his own party in recent weeks to steady the government and offer an olive branch to the opposition.
"Pakistan has many challenges," Mr Zardari said after lifting the ban.
"Let's put an end to challenging each other. Let us be friends once again and forever."
Mr Zardari also said that he would support Mr Sharif's government in the Punjab.
The President hailed the US administration's new strategy against al-Qaeda in the region as a "positive change".
However, the opposition criticised him for "giving no political direction" at a time when the country is at the centre of global fears due to rising militancy.
Pakistan's President Asif Zardari cedes powers in bid to defuse political crisis - Telegraph
The unpopular President has been forced into making humiliating climbdowns since February when he miscalculated by summarily removing the main opposition party from power in Punjab, the biggest province. He had little choice after losing a power struggle with his bitter rival Nawaz Sharif, and encountering growing criticism from within his own party.
He also promised last night to begin the process of transferring key powers, including the power to dismiss parliament, to his prime minister, Yusuf Raza Gilani. But he referred the matter to a parliamentary committee, raising doubts about whether he really intended to share power.
His relieved supporters hoped that his climbdowns will be enough to head off a popular movement that had threatened to sweep him from power, and yesterday he was making conciliatory statements towards his bitter rival, the opposition leader Nawaz Sharif.
Western diplomats fear that political wrangling between Pakistan's elected leaders has undermined the fight against an increasingly dangerous Taliban insurgency.
They have been particularly alarmed by the Taliban's takeover in Swat, an alpine tourist destination less than 100 miles from the capital which was a popular tourist destination only a year ago.
Now it is feared that the valley is being turned into a military base for attacks on Nato forces in next-door Afghanistan, even as Islamist fighters set up their own administration with courts and checkpoints.
American and British diplomats helped broker an end to the current political crisis which began when the Supreme Court banned the president's rival, Mr Sharif, from power in his home province of Punjab.
But since then Mr Zardari has been forced by mass protests first to restore as Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, the judge whose sacking by the former military ruler Pervez Musharraf became a cause celebre for Pakistan's democrats. Now he has been forced into a second climbdown by lifting the ban on Mr Sharif.
Mr Sharif's brother, Shahbaz, who until February had been Punjab's chief minister, had also been forbidden from holding office.
In recent weeks Mr Sharif has been able to pose as a champion of democracy to lead mass anti-government protests, although he has a tainted past and was himself accused of epic corruption when he was prime minister more than a decade ago.
Mr Zardari has faced increasing pressure from within his own party in recent weeks to steady the government and offer an olive branch to the opposition.
"Pakistan has many challenges," Mr Zardari said after lifting the ban.
"Let's put an end to challenging each other. Let us be friends once again and forever."
Mr Zardari also said that he would support Mr Sharif's government in the Punjab.
The President hailed the US administration's new strategy against al-Qaeda in the region as a "positive change".
However, the opposition criticised him for "giving no political direction" at a time when the country is at the centre of global fears due to rising militancy.
Pakistan's President Asif Zardari cedes powers in bid to defuse political crisis - Telegraph