Pakistan: Final Challenge
As reported by Reuters’ Augustine Anthony, a decision from Benazir Bhutto’s party regarding the likely next Prime Minister could spell the beginning of the end for Musharraf: “Musharraf, an important U.S. ally, will swear in the prime minister on Tuesday and the government is expected to be sworn in later in the week.
The president, who came to power as a general in a 1999 coup, appears increasingly isolated and there is intense speculation over how long he will be able to hold on to power.
The incoming government has pledged to pass a resolution to reinstate Supreme Court judges whom Musharraf dismissed in November out of fear they could rule unconstitutional his own re-election in October by the previous assembly.
If reinstated, the judges are expected to take up legal challenges to the president.”
1 Comment »
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Leave a comment
Comment Guidlines: This space is for commenting on the post above, the ideas, the context,the author. Your ideas, strong but civil, are appreciated. Long cuts and pastes from elsewhere are not. This is NOT the place to create your own private BLOG. Links to other articles are fine, if appropriate. Line and paragraph breaks are automatic; e-mail address are never displayed.
HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>
March 22nd, 2008 @ 2:27 pm
Very exciting stuff going on in Pakistan. Not only has a woman been selected to be Speaker of Parliament but a new, and youngish, Prime Minister is set to be sworn in on Tuesday. [Though Jane Perlez in the NY Times, suggests Yousaf Raza Gillani is just a place holder until Asif Ali Zardari, Banazir Bhutto’s widower and leader of the majority party, the PPP, can win a seat in Parliament and stand for PM himself.] Whether the new government will release the suspended lawyers and initiate legal challenges to President Musharraf, or if an impeachment drive will begin, are swirling in the political winds. How Musharraf, and his ally Bush, will respond is the big uncertainty. How strong is Musharraf’s hold on army loyalty? How would he judge his chances, and his country’s, in a coup attempt?
William Dalrymple in The New York Review of Books has a long and helpful backgrounder to Pakistan in the April 3, edition. He says the recent election results are nothing short of astounding, breaking at long last the hold of agricultural feudal lords over rural, and thus Pakistani, politics.