Pakistan On Edge As Zardari Arouses Cabinet Rebellion

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Source: Times Online

PAKISTAN’S president, Asif Ali Zardari, was facing a revolt from inside his party yesterday as negotiations to end a standoff with opposition leaders failed to make headway and the threat of turmoil in the nuclear-armed nation provoked increasing international concern.

Zardari has spurred dissent in the ruling Pakistan People’s party (PPP) with his dictatorial handling of the crisis, which began last month when Nawaz Sharif, the opposition leader, was banned from holding public office and direct rule was imposed on his political heartland, Punjab, the country’s largest state.

Political analysts say Zardari, who came to power last year on a sympathy vote after the assassination of his wife Benazir Bhutto, has further alienated voters with his heavy-handed clampdown on a nationwide protest by lawyers demanding the reinstatement of senior judges sacked in 2007.

More than 400 protesters have been arrested and main roads blocked to stop the lawyers going ahead with a “long march” to the capital, Islamabad, in their campaign for judicial independence.

The first clear sign of a rift in the PPP emerged yesterday with the resignation of Sherry Rehman, the information minister. She quit after the country’s largest private television channel, GEO, was shut down in big cities on Zardari’s orders.

Zardari is reported to have angered the prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, and the head of the army, General Ashfaq Kayani, by refusing to accept a compromise deal they had proposed to avert chaos.

Under the deal, backed by Britain and the US, the ban on Sharif, a former prime minister, and his brother Shahbaz Sharif, former chief minister of Punjab, from holding office would be lifted. It would also end direct rule in Punjab and reinstate Iftikar Chaudhry, the former chief justice, to a senior judicial role.

Last night, in what was seen in Islamabad as a significant concession by Zardari, a government spokesman said a review would be held of the supreme court’s ban on Sharif and his brother holding office. Zardari had earlier told aides that he was not going to negotiate while under pressure from Sharif and his marchers.

more: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5908442.ece

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1. Newsweek: Zardari On The Brink

Efforts are increasing to save the unraveling presidency of Asif Ali Zardari and resolve Pakistan's deepening political crisis ahead of a planned sit-in scheduled for Monday in Islamabad. Diplomats from Western nations are meeting with political and judicial leaders, and the Army, is urging all sides to step back from the brink.

The sit-in is the culmination of a nationwide protest march organized by lawyers demanding the restoration of the country's top judge, illegally removed from office by Zardari's predecessor, Pervez Musharraf. They're also demanding the restoration of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's government in the Punjab province, which was overthrown last month through a controversial court order. To head off protests, the Zardari-led government has arrested lawyers, civil-society activists and opposition leaders. It has also suspended the right to free assembly; roadblocked access to cities, including Islamabad; and attempted to muzzle cable-news channels. The president's authority has been further eroded by several police and government officials who have publicly refused to accept the government's orders to arrest protesters. The Army has been asked now to assist police in controlling protesters.

Zardari has been stung by a recent string of high-profile resignations protesting his handling of the political crisis. Two senior party members stepped down from their posts within the Pakistan People's Party, and two senior cabinet members have also resigned. Zardari-loyalist Sherry Rehman resigned as information minister today, reportedly over the government's attempts to gag the media.

more: http://www.newsweek.com/id/189378