Can Pakistan Hold On To This Victory
With nearly complete returns from Monday’s vote giving it the most seats, the party of the assassinated opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, led by her widower, Asif Ali Zardari, made clear that a new political order prevailed in Pakistan.
Zardari, the leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, said the new Parliament would reverse many of the unpopular policies that fueled the strong protest vote against President Pervez Musharraf and his party.
Bush administration officials said the United States would still like to see Pakistan’s opposition leaders find a way to work with Musharraf, a staunch ally for more than six years, but conceded that the notion appeared increasingly unlikely.
Though Zardari said he wanted a government of national consensus, he ruled out working with anyone from the previous government under Musharraf. Instead he said he was talking to the leader of the other main opposition party, Nawaz Sharif, whose party finished second, about forming a coalition.
… the first order of business will be to undo restrictions on the media and restore the independence of the judiciary, he said. But Zardari did not specifically call for the reinstatement of the chief justice and his colleagues; given the corruption charges still pending against Zardari in Pakistan, it was not clear whether it would be in his interest to do so.
But the results left the Bush administration, which has leaned heavily on Musharraf, scrambling to find new partners in the campaign against Islamic militants in the region. The election of a hostile Parliament is expected to further marginalize the president, or even push him out, in a country where power traditionally lies with elected prime ministers or the military chiefs who have overthrown them.
ISLAMABAD: A delegation of US senators visiting Pakistan met Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari at the US embassy here on Tuesday …
This is a statement from the Pakistani voter that needs to be supported by the international community. The future of this part of the globe will determine the safety of western civilization. India, Pakistan, China and Russia are factors that must be considered as the US approaches its own national elections. This arena is vital to global stability. Less emphasis on divisive and provocative tactics must prevail. Global powers are shifting and US credibility has been lost in the myopic focus on fossil fuel. To the world, the US appears desperate to grab what it can, by whatever means it can before its power for intimidation is lost. Ruling from a position of intimidation is historically a failed plan. We are watching examples of this in Pakistan. This is a delicate moment in Southeast Asian history as it effects world stability. The Koreas are on the brink of merging as their populations want to re-unite with their families and mend their common history. The charisma of dictatorship has faded into hatred of suppression. American candidates must focus on mending, not rending. Candidates must focus on the place of America in the world and not the worlds’ place as it benefits American interests. Military actions must be justifiable and not imagined. America must stop acting like the Mafia and start acting like a citizen of the planet. Pakistan’s dilemma is a product of American covert operations. Can the US gently change it’s method of operation without igniting a full World War Three?
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