Enduring power struggle in Pakistan: New Phase-I 

By Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal

For quite some now, Islamabad, charged with the task of building a stable and truly Islamic state, has been undergoing a restless pattern life on national scale. What appears to be a renewed power struggle between former premier Nawaz Sharif who thinks he is the loser in the power game after the �democratic� poll as he was outwitted by PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari, his major coalition partner in the poll campaign to out president Musharraf, has stopped albeit for the time being. After a cloudy atmosphere threatening to further weaken the nation which is under foreign attack with Us-led terror forces killing Muslims now, Pakistan seems to be returning back to normalcy politically. It is encouraging to witness, once again, a positive trend in Pakistan politics, after a brief showdown between the Zardari government and opposition leader Nawaz Sharif. However, while US forces kill Muslims by drones, President Zardari has also come under massive Western pressure to defuse a stand-off with Sharif, who urged the masses to rise up against the government to demand that judges sacked under emergency rule be reinstated. The global media mischief about a possible regime shift in Islamabad turned out to be a hoax.

Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, the focus of the turmoil, is back already in his seat in the Supreme Court. The key roles for the seemingly normalcy returning to Pakistan are being played by Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and the army chief Gen. Kiyani who is also determined to avert chaos in the central front in "US terror war". Averting widespread fears of unrest, Pakistan government pledged on 16 March to restore its deposed top judge Iftikhar Chaudhry after the incumbent retires on March 21 and end a crackdown on activists, caving in under mass protests to try to defuse a crisis that took the nation to the brink of chaos.  Gilani also ordered all political party activists and lawyers arrested over the past week to be released. In an address to the nation, Gilani declared that President Zardari had agreed to most of Nawaz Sharif's demands.

The announcement followed meeting between Gilani and President Zardari on crucial issues responsible for the current political crisis triggered by the confrontation between the ruling PPP and opposition PML-N. Prompting the opposition to call off a major rally in the capital with his actions, Gilani ordered to release all those arrested and declaring the immediate lifting of a ban on public demonstrations. Gilani said the government had decided to file a petition against the February 25 Supreme Court ruling that banned Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif from contesting elections.

Both president Zardari and primer Gilani also appealed for political reconciliation in the country, which is facing a punishing economic crisis in addition to rising �militant� violence. In the face of joint march by the opposition and other �brother� organizations, the government�s action came timely putting a full stop to eventualities that might have serious ramifications for state. The concession came as thousands of protesters led by Nawaz Sharif, the head of the largest opposition party and a long-time foe of President Asif Ali Zardari, were traveling to Islamabad to join the planned sit-in. Sharif joined the convoy after ignoring a house arrest order in his hometown of Lahore in Punjab, where his supporters fought running battles with police.

The former chief justice was dismissed by Pervez Musharraf on 2007 November 3 along with 60 other judges, 53 of whom have since been reinstated. Chaudhry's dismissal by former president Musharraf led to a countrywide protest that the opposition made use of in its poll campaign and, ultimately, Musharraf quit in August 2008. The former military ruler perhaps feared the judges would declare him ineligible to contest a presidential election while in military uniform. He first fired Chaudhry in March 2007, but the judge was reinstated on a Supreme Court appeal.

The return of normalcy has also involved the secret efforts of U. S. President Barack Obama, who exerted his influence over Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistan Army Chief to insist for defusing the fiery coup by compromising with Nawaz Sharif, the leader of the main opposition. Barack Obama wanted to gain a breathing time; he never wanted to �enrisk� Pakistan�s nuclear weapons to fall into the hands of Talibans or any other terrorist groups. Instability of Pakistan was dangerous for Afghanistan.

Opposition leaders and lawyers had vowed to sit-in at the parliament until Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, known for his independence and willingness to challenge authority, was reinstated. The capital was barricaded and scores of extra police brought in amid fears of violence. With Pakistan agreeing on 16 March to reinstate a fired chief justice, a move that would help defuse a political crisis that has sparked street battles and raised fears of instability in the country at a time of surging Islamist violence, judgment has been delivered in favor of Pakistan.

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Yours Sincerely,

DR. ABDUL RUFF Colachal

Columnist & Independent Researcher in World Affairs,

The only Indian to have gone through entire India
South Asia.