Your move, chief!

[asad71]

In this analysis, let us not forget the people. None can withstand the wrath of the masses.

 

[Vinod2070]

An excellent opportunity for the politicians to get together and put the "deep state" where it belongs, firmly under the thumb of elected politicians.

Its a shame for the elected government to be kept unstable by the non accountable "deep state".

 

[Awesome]

when push comes to shove he will play the sind card.

As election season nears in, you will see that the Sindh Nationalist parties would rally against Zardari and PPP will lose the votes. He can't play the Sindh card after bending over backwards for MQM and then of course Zulfiqar Mirza so openly blasting Zardari for his pro-Muhajir stance.

Zulfiqar Mirza would be propped up soon in the coming months to raise that Sindh card against Zardari.

 

[Awesome]

Which is why I do not understand how April changes anything in this picture posted above.

Oh well, April, 2012 is the rumored date when the Swiss government has given its deadline to the Pakistan government to respond whether or not they want to pursue cases against Zardari. If they just sit tight till then, the cases would be dropped.

It doesn't affect the current Army - Presidency tiff, but it does say opens Zardari to live to fight another day. There would be a paradigm shift. Zardari is already touting that despite having the most cases against him none were proven - now the last few cases remaining against him would be shut down as well.

 

[VCheng]

Oh well, April, 2012 is the rumored date when the Swiss government has given its deadline to the Pakistan government to respond whether or not they want to pursue cases against Zardari. If they just sit tight till then, the cases would be dropped.

It doesn't affect the current Army - Presidency tiff, but it does say opens Zardari to live to fight another day. There would be a paradigm shift. Zardari is already touting that despite having the most cases against him none were proven - now the last few cases remaining against him would be shut down as well.

I see your point, but I submit to you that the Swiss cases, pursued or not, are not much of a change for Zardari in his struggles with the military, or with with other politicos either.

 

[Awesome]

I see your point, but I submit to you that the Swiss cases, pursued or not, are not much of a change for Zardari in his struggles with the military, or with with other politicos either.

What I am hinting at is that as long as Zardari feels he will get what he came to do as President of Pakistan, he will not rock the boat, conversely the Army may be interested in rocking the boat before April to keep those cases alive. The situation we have is that the COAS can oust the President and the President can oust the Chief... There are motivating factors for each to not do anything for the most benefit than get some benefit by doing something. Cyril Almeida of Dawn described this as a Mexican Standoff at the political scale.

 

[VCheng]

What I am hinting at is that as long as Zardari feels he will get what he came to do as President of Pakistan, he will not rock the boat, conversely the Army may be interested in rocking the boat before April to keep those cases alive. The situation we have is that the COAS can oust the President and the President can oust the Chief... There are motivating factors for each to not do anything for the most benefit than get some benefit by doing something. Cyril Almeida of Dawn described this as a Mexican Standoff at the political scale.

Unless something drastic happens (and the NATO incident is not it), both sides know Uncle Sam clearly wants a civilian set up to continue and elections to happen. They will listen to that, I am betting.

 

[lem34]

Unless something drastic happens (and the NATO incident is not it), both sides know Uncle Sam clearly wants a civilian set up to continue and elections to happen. They will listen to that, I am betting.

I don't think the Americans care as long as their interests are served. In the past it hasn't bothered them if it suits them, one of their best allies is Saudi where we all know there is no democracy. On the contrary America does not want true democracy in Pakistan because overwhelmingly the Pakistani people are anti American.

 

[VCheng]

I don't think the Americans care as long as their interests are served. In the past it hasn't bothered them if it suits them, one of their best allies is Saudi where we all know there is no democracy. On the contrary America does not want true democracy in Pakistan because overwhelmingly the Pakistani people are anti American.

Yes, that is true.

However, Pakistan is such a basket case now that conventional means of doing business may no longer apply.

 

[lem34]

Yes, that is true.

However, Pakistan is such a basket case now that conventional means of doing business may no longer apply.

define basket case. All countries have their own issues and problems. Some could say that America is a basket case of contradictions. There is no point and it is unhelpful to use such terms to describe a country that some Pakistanis love .

 

[lem34]

Exclusive: Pakistan army wants Zardari out but not a coup


Pakistan's president Asif Ali Zardari speaks during an interview with China Daily after the opening ceremony of the China-Eurasia Expo in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region September 1, 2011. REUTERS-China Daily


Credit: Reuters/China Daily

By Michael Georgy

ISLAMABAD | Thu Dec 22, 2011 9:45am EST

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's powerful army is fed up with unpopular President Asif Ali Zardari and wants him out of office, but through legal means and without a repeat of the coups that are a hallmark of the country's 64 years of independence, military sources said.

Tensions are rising between Pakistan's civilian leaders and its generals over a memo that accused the army of plotting a coup after the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May.

"Who isn't fed up with Zardari? It's not just the opposition and the man on the street but people within the government too," said one military source who asked not to be named.

"But there has to be a proper way. No action is being planned by the army. Even if we tried, it would be very unpopular and not just with the government and the opposition but most Pakistanis too."

The Pakistani military spokesman declined comment.

General Ashfaq Kayani has pledged to keep the military out of Pakistani politics since taking over as army chief in 2007.

Any coup -- Pakistan has had three since independence in 1947 -- could further tarnish the military's public image which has already taken a battering after the bin Laden operation, widely seen in Pakistan as a violation of sovereignty.

But the army remains the arbiter of power and analysts say it has plenty of ways to pressure Zardari to step down, especially if a link is established between him and the memo, which sought the Pentagon's help in averting a feared coup.

Businessman Mansoor Ijaz, writing in a column in the Financial Times on October 10, said a senior Pakistani diplomat had asked that a memo be delivered to the Pentagon with a plea for U.S. help to stave off a military coup in the days after the raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May.

Ijaz later identified the diplomat as Pakistan's ambassador to Washington, Husain Haqqani, who denied involvement but resigned over the controversy. No evidence has emerged that the military was plotting a coup and the Pentagon at the time dismissed the memo as not credible.

Friction between Pakistan's civilian government and military have bedeviled the nuclear-armed South Asian country for almost its entire existence, with the military ruling for more than half its 64-year history after a series of coups.

In the past the army has asked Pakistani civilian leaders to resign and influenced judicial proceedings against them.

Haqqani's resignation was seen by many analysts as further weakening the civilian government, which is already beset by allegations of corruption and incompetence in the face of many challenges, including a weak economy and a Taliban insurgency.

MEMOGATE

Zardari returned to Pakistan this week from medical treatment in Dubai that raised speculation he would resign under pressure from the military over what has been dubbed "memogate."

Although his position is largely ceremonial, he wields considerable influence as leader of the ruling party and his forced departure would be a humiliation for the civilian leadership and could throw the country into turmoil.

One of the military sources suggested that no direct action would be needed against the government because it had already made so many mistakes.

"If the government is digging its own grave, we are not going to look for spades," the source said.

The military has reasserted itself after a November 26 NATO cross-border air attack killed 24 Pakistani soldiers and the memo has also given it political ammunition.

In a statement submitted to the Supreme Court, which is looking into a petition demanding an inquiry into who may have been behind the memo, Kayani said it was a serious matter which required an investigation.

"We want anyone involved, be they in government or elsewhere, to be punished. But it is not for us to do anything. If the army moves to do anything it would have national as well as international repercussions," said another military source.

"So that is not likely. Anything that has to be done has to be done by the Supreme Court."

Officials from Zardari's ruling party have played down friction with the military and say they don't fear a coup.

But they fear that some judges in the increasingly aggressive Supreme Court dislike Zardari and could move against him.

"I am not bothered about the army. I think they are acting very sensibly and would not derail the system at the moment," a senior ruling party leader told Reuters.

"The worry probably would be what the Supreme Court does. They look in a mood to manipulate things."

The government's anxiety over memogate was highlighted in comments made by Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani on Thursday.

"Let me make clear to you today that there are intrigues, conspiracies afoot to pack up the elected government," he said in a speech at the National Art

 

[The Count]

RazPak,

"Government are pawns, the idiots started fighting within the country instead of uniting the people. Who needs to consider Americans as enemy when we have these jokers in office..."

I think there is some truth in what you say with regard to your Govt being pressured to act by the United States in line with their stratergy in Afghanistan. This has, from my reading of the situation, caused a great deal of resentment within Pakistan as the people and many in the military rather feel the Pakistan is fighting America's war.

However do you belive that there is not a home grown threat within the FATA that is radiating out into Pindi, Karachi and Islamabad. Failure to adequtely address this threat with a coherent stratergy is due to Pakistan's preoccupation with India and 'extrenal agencies' rather than adressing the polictacl grivences of those who support the TTP?

The Count

 

[problemfreeleader]

TILL WE DONT GET RID FOREVER OF PPP..... ZARDARI AND HIS SON BILAWAL PML-Q .....PARVAIZ ELAHI AND HIS SON MUANIS ELAHI ANP..... ASFANDIAR WALI AND HIS SON AIMAL WALI PML-N.....NAWAZ SHEHBAZ SHARIF AND HIS SON HAMZA SHARIF MOLANA MMA....FUZLURAHMAN .....MUSHARRAF AND HIS SON BILAL MUSHARRAF AND THE ALL TIME TERRORIST ILTAF HUSSAIN UK MQM ........WE CANT THINK OF FUTURE OF PAKISTAN THERE WILL BE ALWAYS EXTREME CORRUPTION IN EVERY DEPARTMENT NO JUSTICE EVEN IN COOURTS BEGGING INFRONT OF AMERICAN ORDERS FOR DOLLARS WHO ALWAYS WANTED TO DESTABILIZE PAKISTAN WITH SUPPORT OF INDIA ISRAEL AFGHANISTAN LOOK INTO ARAB COUNTRIES WHAT THESE AMERICANS DID FOR THE SAKE OF OIL HUNGER KILLING THEM AND CAPTURING THEIR RESOURCES BUT THERE LEADERS STILL SITTING UNDER THEIR SHOES SIMILAR AS PAKISTAN EXTREME SPOILED BEUROCRACY ESTABLISHMENT SAVE PAKISTAN ELSE NO GAS NO ELECTRICITY NO CNG NO JOBS NO SECURITY MIGHT IS RIGHT RULE EVERY WHERE THERE WILL BE ALWAYS TARGET KILLLING DRONE ATTACKS AND ALL TALENTED PEOPLE ARE DUMPED REVOLOTUON IS THE ONLY NEED OF TIME IMRAN KHAN SHOULD BE ATLEAST GIVEN1CHANCE ATLEAST HIS CLEAN VISION AND HIS FUTURE AIMS TO RECOVER LAST HOPES GOD BLESS PAKISTAN.

 

[Awesome]

Yes, that is true.

However, Pakistan is such a basket case now that conventional means of doing business may no longer apply.

Not doing business through conventional means perhaps sustains it as a 'basket case'? Hence the anti-Americanism?

---------- Post added at 03:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:36 PM ----------

Unless something drastic happens (and the NATO incident is not it), both sides know Uncle Sam clearly wants a civilian set up to continue and elections to happen. They will listen to that, I am betting.

Your definition of civilian setup and theirs may not match.

 

[DrSomnath999]

i think Imran khan & mussaraf alliance can be game CHANGER in pakistani politics .
I wish imran khan should be PM & mussaraf to be president of pakistan ,then pakistan can recover from the precariuos situation it is right now & pakistani public should blindly support them for their own benefit
REGARDS