PPP and PML N are like two friends who fight with each other all the time but when a forigener comes in ... they stop and kick the third one out and after that they again start to fight ...
there is a proverb in urdu ..
behtti ganga mian haath doo loo ..
Aitazaz Ahsen should work efficiently as long as this coalation is working and should try that all the desposed judges are restored in time ....
The only point on which Pakistan's political parties are really agreed is getting rid of President Musharraf. Beyond that not much is clear. They agreed on Sunday to form a government but no
Slow but steady is no bad thing for Pakistan
Bronwen Maddox: World Briefing
The only point on which Pakistan's political parties are really agreed is getting rid of President Musharraf. Beyond that not much is clear. They agreed on Sunday to form a government but not yet on who should be prime minister, nor most of the other main posts.
The slowness is not a bad thing if it does not become immobility. For all the pessimism that Pakistan has generated, its politicians are doing a reasonable job, in the three weeks since the elections, of trying to edge towards a democracy with a stronger Parliament.
Getting rid of Musharraf is what the two main parties intend by their first joint decision "“ to reappoint the 60-odd senior judges whom he sacked. The Supreme Court judges would probably say right away that Musharraf's reelection in September was unconstitutional as he was still army chief. They could try to get him out within weeks. But while he is there, as President, he is responsible for convening the new National Assembly. The parties want that to be as soon as possible. He does not but his room for manoeuvre is limited, such is the pressure at home and abroad to get a move on.
Pressure seems to be having a helpful effect, too, on Asif Zardari, the widower of Benazir Bhutto, and since her assassination in December, head of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP). Her party, helped by a sympathy vote, won most of the seats in the assembly and can pick the prime minister. But in three weeks it has struggled to do so.
It appears that Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Zardari's deputy, who ran the party during Bhutto's eight-year exile, is out of the running. Mild, excessively well connected and a landlord from Sindh province, the Bhutto powerbase, he would have been a steadying influence but also possibly a challenge to the Bhutto clan.
When Zardari failed to bring him to Sunday's crucial meeting with Nawaz Sharif, head of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz branch), the other main party, it was widely assumed that he was no longer a contender. That role now goes to Ahmed Mukhtar, an industrialist from Punjab and a former minister in Bhutto's Cabinet.
That would be a sensible move by the PPP. If it is ever to become a proper national party, rather than a passionate cult of the Bhutto family, drawing its power from Sindh's feudal networks, then it needs a foothold in Punjab. That single province, two thirds of Pakistan by population and wealth, is almost a country in its own right (and one that works better than much of the rest). It is Sharif's heartland, and the army's, and is the key to delivering stable government.
After Sunday's talks it seems that the Pakistan Muslim League may get the Finance Ministry. That is a dangerous gift to accept as the soaring cost of food and oil tops the new government's problems. The division of responsibility between the two parties may inject conflict into that crucial domain.
The unclear ambitions of two small parties that might be in the coalition also add unpredictability. The Awami Nationalist Party, a Pashtun party and secular (up to a point), trounced Islamist parties in the west in the single most encouraging facet of the election. It and the Jamaiat Ulema-e-Islam, a leading Islamic party, could prove crucial in a decision, for example, to impeach Musharraf.
But uncertainty at this point is neither surprising nor bad news. Pakistan has come smoothly through elections that could have been far more violent. The questions it faces have been there for the 60 years since partition; no bad thing if it takes a few weeks to hazard some answers.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article3525407.ece
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President Pervez Musharraf under threat as parties seal pact on joint government
President Musharraf is under pressure following the power-sharing deal between the two largest political parties in Pakistan
Zahid Hussain in Islamabad
Pakistan's two largest political parties "” which won last month's national elections "” sealed a power-sharing deal yesterday, raising doubts about President Musharraf's political future.
The accord between Asif Ali Zardari, the de facto leader of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and widower of the murdered former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, and the Pakistan Muslim League (N) led by Nawaz Sharif, another former Prime Minister, cleared the way for the formation of an anti-Musharraf government.
"We feel that the country is on the verge of making history," said Mr Zardari. "This was also the desire of Benazir Bhutto and we also intend to stick to the road to democracy; we are aware of the problems that the country is facing."
Mr Sharif said that his party would be part of a federal coalition led by the PPP, which is expected to name its prime ministerial candidate this week. The PPP has won 120 seats in the new 342-seat National Assembly, and the Muslim League 90, bringing them close to the two-thirds majority required to strip Mr Musharraf of his powers to dismiss Parliament. The Assembly is expected to meet in ten days' time.
On Saturday Mr Musharraf urged his opponents to put politics aside and concentrate on forming a "stable government and peace in society".
Mr Zardari said that he had nothing personal against the President but Mr Sharif suggested that he had no future once the new government was formed. "I do not think we have recognised Musharraf's existence; we consider him an unconstitutional and illegal president and would not like our sacrifices that we made during the last eight years to go down the drain," said Mr Sharif, who was ousted by Mr Musharraf in a military coup in 1999.
Much could depend on who will emerge as the country's new prime minister. The delay in naming the candidates partly reflects the power vacuum left after the assassination in late December of Ms Bhutto. Her husband and son have taken over as co-heads of the PPP but questions remain about whether anyone without her influence and charisma can keep the party united and growing in strength.
Amin Fahim, who is from a wealthy land-owning family in the southern province of Sindh, and Ahmed Mukhtar, who comes from a prominent industrialist family in the Punjab region, Pakistan's most populous province, are the leading candidates for the post. Both are known for their pro-Western and liberal political views.
The prime minister will have to bring the PPP's internal factions together as well as work with coalition partners in the new government. Mr Fahim, 66, was initially considered the main contender for the post but his appeal waned after it emerged that he had met Mr Musharraf without informing the party leadership.
Mr Mukhtar, 61, who was Commerce Minister in a previous Bhutto government, has emerged as a candidate in the past few days after the PPP leadership indicated that it was considering picking someone from Punjab province, the main bastion of political power in Pakistan.
The two parties have promised to restore the Chief Justice and other judges, dismissed by President Musharraf in November under emergency rule, within 30 days of the new Parliament's formation.
Any such resolution would bring the new Government into direct confrontation with Mr Musharraf, who has advised against the reinstatement of the judges.
The embattled leader removed Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the Chief Justice, and some 60 other independent judges of higher courts, fearing that they might not endorse his controversial re-election as President for another five year term. Mr Chaudhry is still under house arrest.
His arrest triggered nationwide protests by lawyers and led to the defeat of Mr Musharraf's supporters in last month's elections. Some analysts predict that the President might resign if the judge returns. Police fired teargas shells to disperse hundreds of protesters who tried to force their way through a police cordon around Mr Chaudhry's residence in Islamabad demanding his immediate release.
Yesterday lawyers announced a week of fresh protests and urged the new Parliament to get the judges' restored. Several thousand people, including union members and journalists, gathered peacefully in the southern city of Karachi also to demand that Mr Musharraf step down.
Troubled times
March 2007 President Musharraf suspends Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, the Supreme Court Chief. Supporters of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif hold joint protests July Supreme Court reinstates Chaudhry. Bhutto and Musharraf discuss power-sharing deal
August Supreme Court rules that Sharif can return from exile
September Sharif returns but is sent back without leaving aircraft
October Musharraf wins presidential election, Supreme Court declares result invalid. Bhutto returns and narrowly escapes suicide bombing
November Musharraf declares state of emergency, dismisses Chaudhry again. Election Commission announces elections for January 8, 2008, ratifies Musharraf's election
December 15 State of emergency lifted
December 27 Bhutto assassinated
January 2008 Election postponed to February 18
February 18 Bhutto and Sharif's parties share clear majority of vote
Source: Times archives
Its very strange that people of Pakistan have once again given chance to the proven plunderers and destroyers of their country. Much has been written and said about these politicians, in the international media with proofs and facts, who are nothing but power hungry and prime looters of national wealth. If somebody has been to Pakistan of Nawaz Sharif and Benazir era and then also to the Musharraf era, with an unbiased eye and opinion, the opinion will be in favor of Musharraf. It was Musharraf's bad luck and some bad decisions in 2007 which have given politicians a chance to play their dirty games once again. Pakistan is much prosperous, industrialized and modern today as compared to what it was ten years ago. Facts and figures issued by international organizations say similar. The successive democratic governments in late 80's and 90's did nothing but fught political and personal wars among politicians ignoring masses. Lets see what are their plans this time.
Shiraz Mehmud, Trondheim,
Mr musharaf is saying about peace and co operation now after loosing the elections. He does not have any other choice. he would be different if his supporting PML(q) have won the elections or considerable majority. Peoples of Pakistan do not want him as a president. He just wants to stay in the government. He should go and let the people to run their country. If he is really a welwisher of the country and people of Pakistan he should step down and give any the right to the people to choose their government. That is the only way for him now for peace and stability in the country if he is a welwisher.
Zulfiqar Ali, london, UK
The nation is in a state of confusion.
US did not plant Musharraf but this a tradition of showing strength by our Armed Forces, nurtured by sweat and blood of the poor people of Pakistan.
PM was sincere to the country. Then after the 9/11 he had to take the difficult decision when asked the question ' Are you with us or you are not with us' If you are there were tons of gold and if you are not they promised to take Pakistan back to stone age. PM was not a politician or a true leader from the people, he is an Army commando. He believes in retreat when necessary and attack when there is plain field.
If ZA Bhutto was in this situation he would have agreed with pre-condition, negotiated better terms and would not have compromised when it comes to the issue of national security and country's sovereignty. Now once you agree to be with them you become a paid adversary, a paid commando who wags his tail at the master only.
Musharraf made big blunders in 2007 and he is paying the price.
Syed aziz Ahmed, dallas, Texas- USA