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August 25, 2008 The ruling
coalition that just a week ago drove U.S. ally
Pervez Musharraf from the presidency broke
apart Monday, throwing Pakistan into political
turmoil just as it faces an increasingly
difficult fight against Islamic militants.
The collapse of the fragile
alliance threw more power to Asif Ali Zardari,
the widower of assassinated ex-leader Benazir
Bhutto and a corruption-tainted former polo
player who now becomes the front-runner to
replace Musharraf.
Fulfilling a threat he made
last week, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif
pulled his party out of the coalition after a
dispute with Zardari over whether to restore
the chief justice of the Supreme Court,
Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudry, who was ousted by
Musharraf.
There was concern within
Bhutto's party, the Pakistan People's Party,
that such a restoration would lead to the
prosecution of Musharraf _ and perhaps even
Zardari _ and that a fight would weaken the
government's ability to fight militants.
Sharif's withdrawal will cost
Zardari and the PPP their majority in
parliament. But Zardari is expected to rally
support from allies and form a new government
with the help of small parties.
And if he does that and wins
the presidency Sept. 6 in a vote by lawmakers,
as he is on course to do, Zardari would add to
his powers and be in a position to create a
more stable government. Sharif told reporters
he would play a "constructive" role in the
opposition but has already pledged to run a
retired judge against Zardari next month.
The government needs a
strengthened hand to tackle the growing
Taliban militancy in Pakistan and end the
instability that has plagued the country for
the past year. The test will come when the new
government takes on the militants and at the
same time tries to find a solution to rising
food and fuel prices that are slowing economic
growth.
Zardari's party moved almost
immediately to calm U.S. fears that Pakistan's
new civilian rulers are paying too little
attention to Islamic militants, banning the
Pakistani Taliban group that claims to be
behind a string of suicide bombings.
The United States has been
carefully watching the alliance unravel since
Musharraf, a former army chief and a stalwart
supporter of the war on terror, who resigned
after nine contentious years in power to avoid
impeachment. Before her death, Bhutto had
sought to convince the Americans that a
civilian government run by her party would be
able to more effectively wage a war on terror
because it would have firm democratic
underpinnings.
The ban came after a
spectacular attack on one of the country's
most sensitive military installations that
left 67 dead. Anyone caught helping the group
will face up to 10 years in prison. The
Pakistan Taliban will also have its bank
accounts and assets frozen.
Hours earlier, the government
had rejected a Taliban cease-fire offer in the
Bajur border region, where an army offensive
has reportedly killed hundreds in recent weeks
and prompted more than 200,000 others to flee.
The Pakistani Taliban, or
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, is an umbrella
group of militants along the rugged Afghan
border set up last year. Its leadership is
formally separate from the Taliban movement
that was swept from power in Afghanistan in
2001.
Still, some of its members are
believed to help recruit, arm and train
volunteers for the insurgency against
government and NATO troops in Afghanistan. And
Al-Qaida operatives _ perhaps even Osama bin
Laden or al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri _
have found refuge in the areas it controls.
The ban also bars Pakistanis
from offering money or other support to the
Pakistani Taliban, or handing out its
propaganda. The government may also offer
rewards for the arrests of its leaders.
The militants called the ban
meaningless. "We are neither registered nor do
we have any bank accounts," said Muslim Khan,
one of its spokesmen. "We are slaves to no
one."
U.S. State Department
spokesman Robert Wood said the breakup of the
coalition was "very much an internal Pakistani
matter" that wouldn't affect Pakistani-U.S.
cooperation against extremism.
Some analysts said it might
even strengthen that cooperation by giving
civilian democrats more power over the army,
which U.S. and Afghan officials have accused
of secretly assisting militants.
The People's Party seems to
have secured enough support from opposition
and independent lawmakers to secure the
presidency for Zardari and shore up its
parliamentary majority, avoiding the need for
new elections.
If Zardari secures the
presidency, he will become one of the most
powerful civilian leaders in Pakistan's
61-year history. The head of state holds the
power to dismiss Parliament and appoint army
chiefs, and Zardari's loyal, hand-picked prime
minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, remains in
office.
Zardari has already curried
favor with both the army and the United States
by easing Musharraf from office without a
fuss.
Zardari appealed to Sharif to
rejoin the coalition and said the judges would
be restored "very soon." But he also said his
party could govern without him.
"We hope that (Sharif) will
not cause us any pain, nor that we will cause
any pain to him," Zardari told state-run
television.
Musharraf imposed emergency
rule and purged the Supreme Court in November
to halt legal challenges to his continued
rule. The moved deepened his unpopularity and
helped his enemies to victory in February
parliamentary elections, a platform they used
to drive him out with the threat of
impeachment.
Bringing back the judges could
open the door to new legal action against the
ousted ex-general, including treason charges
sought by Sharif _ a move that would dismay
the army and Washington.
Analysts say Zardari may also
fear that the judges might reopen corruption
charges against him dating back to his wife's
turns in government.
A Swiss prosecutor said Monday
he had dropped money laundering charges
against Zardari because an 11-year
investigation had turned up too little
evidence. Pakistani authorities dropped a
string of graft cases against Zardari earlier
this year.
Mehmood Shah, a former
government official in the troubled northwest,
said the ban probably marked the end of
government's efforts to talk peace with
hardcore militants.
He said the U.S. government
could help by reining in crossborder strikes
on militant targets because it made the
government in Islamabad look weak.
"If the government is showing
resolve, they should be encouraged," he said.
"If Pakistan fails to overcome this problem,
the whole world will have failed."
Violence continued to flare
Monday. Eight were killed in a pre-dawn
rocket-and-bomb strike on the home of
provincial lawmaker Waqar Ahmed Khan in Swat,
police and the politician said. His brother,
two nephews and five guards were killed. |