Who Really Rules Pakistan?
It is not just the Pakistanis who worry and wonder who really rules Pakistan; news items and articles have appeared all over the world expressing the same concern - who really rules Pakistan?
Most people in Pakistan think that the US Ambassador in Pakistan is the real ruler. If that had been the case, the American press would not have expressed so much anxiety over Pakistan and the economy would not have nose-dived as steeply as it has.
The Prime Minister, the cabinet, the leaders of Parties in the ruling coalition - each with legitimate right to make an input in decision making - are clearly not in control. The poor Prime Minister cannot even write his own speech, read it to TV cameras and give a time for it to be broadcast.
The Pakistanis jokingly ask: 'what is better than the rule of one Qadiani'? The answer they get is no joke: 'It is rule by two Qadianis'. From the day General Musharraf became the ruler of Pakistan in 1999, his minder has been Tariq Aziz, who is a Qadiani. He has been the emissary and conduit for all serious and secret contacts. Rehman Malik, who is also a Qadiani, has played the same role for Asif Zardari.
Are the Qadianis the real rulers of Pakistan, then? Not quite! The ruler who has an agenda that is anti-people and anti-state needs people like Tariq Aziz and Rehman Malik, to be able to make secret contact with their friends inside and outside the country to make and implement decision.
Zardari and Musharraf are the real rulers of Pakistan who are in a relationship of tension because they both have the same secret contacts to consult, communicate and execute instructions. They both want the judges - particularly Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry- not to be restored, and for Dogar to continue as CJ.
The USA or India - the usual suspects - have no interest in the judges removed by Musharraf of 3 November not being restored. But they do need Asif and Musharraf, who have worked with them for a long period of time through secret contacts, to remain entrenched in power. Since both Asif and Musharraf say they feel threatened by an independent judiciary, America is prepared to go along.
The current four party coalition at the centre is capable of providing a stable government for Pakistan; it is Asif Zardari and Musharraf who stand in the way. They are like Siamese twins; neither can survive if separated; neither is willing to restore the judges.
It is the Army that can remove President Musharraf and it the Peoples' Party that can remove Asif Zardari from the chairmanship of the Party. As time passes, the wrath of the public would focus on the Army Chief and the PPP leaders. The Pakistani Taliban would get more credibility and popularity as the Army as well as the PPP get discredited.
Who really rules Pakistan is not such a mystery as it appears. It is the Army and the PPP in control of the country. They will lose the control if they failed to remove Musharraf and Asif.
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