ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The leaders of the two victorious parties in Pakistan’s parliamentary elections were due to meet here in Islamabad, the capital, Thursday night in what is seen as a make-or-break effort to try to form a coalition.
But with divisions between them over how to approach the question of President Pervez Musharraf’s future and the reinstatement of the judiciary that the president swept away when he imposed emergency rule last November, the likelihood of that partnership appeared to be in question.
Some analysts expected that, instead, Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of the slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and now the head of the party with the largest number of seats in the new parliament, would reach out to the remnants of Mr. Musharraf’s party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Q.
Nawaz Sharif, the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-N, which came in second to Mr. Zardari’s Pakistan Peoples Party, remains adamant on trying to bring impeachment proceedings against President Pervez Musharraf, who ousted Mr. Sharif from power in 1999 in a coup. Mr. Sharif also wants an immediate reinstatement of the judiciary, in particular the former chief justice, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, who has been under house arrest for three months.
To show his solidarity with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Mr.Sharif joined a noisy demonstration on Thursday outside the judge’s Islamabad home, where he has been kept in detention for the past three months. Mr. Sharif, speaking through a bullhorn to cheers, said that he would make sure in the next few days that the chief justice and dozens of other judges “illegally” fired by President Musharraf would be restored the bench. Mr. Sharif then asked the protesters to disband.
Mr. Zardari has taken a somewhat softer line on the restoration of the judiciary, saying it should be a matter for the new Parliament.
Several days after Ms. Bhutto was assassinated, Mr. Zardari lashed out at Mr. Musharraf’s party, accusing it of masterminding his wife’s death and calling it “the killer party.” But since the election Monday, Mr. Zardari has taken a less hard line. By Wednesday he had dropped his harsh references to Mr. Musharraf and the president’s defeated party.
As the maneuvering has intensified between the political parties in the last several days, the perception has grown among Pakistanis that the Bush administration would much prefer Mr. Zardari to join forces with the followers of Mr. Musharraf than Mr. Sharif.
The United States ambassador, Anne W. Patterson, met with Mr. Zardari Wednesday at the American embassy, an encounter that bolstered the belief among Pakistanis that Washington was in the thick of the political negotiations.
Statements from the White House and the State Department encouraging a broad consensus in a new government also added to the sense that the administration is eager to try to preserve some power for Mr. Musharraf, an ally in the campaign on terror.
Dana Perino, a White House spokeswoman, confirmed Thursday that Mr. Bush took time during a tour of African states to telephone Mr. Musharraf on Tuesday following the loss in the parliamentary elections. The call was made during Mr. Bush’s flight from Rwanda to Ghana, but Ms. Perino would not say what the two leaders discussed. She said it was up to the Pakistani people to decide whether Mr. Musharraf retained his position.
Some Pakistanis warned Thursday that the United States must stand back.
The leader of the opposition lawyers movement in Pakistan, Aitzaz Ahsan, who has been under house arrest for more than three months but is now able to speak by telephone, said he had told a visiting American diplomat on Wednesday: “The guy is history, please don’t prop him up.”
He said he underscored that Mr. Musharraf’s party had won only a fraction of the 272 parliamentary seats to the diplomat, Bryan Hunt, the United States consul general in Lahore. Mr. Ahsan has become a folk hero among the lawyers who fought President Musharraf’s battle with the Supreme Court chief justice and the judiciary in general. His steadfast stand behind the restoration of judges appeared to be a motivating force behind the surprisingly strong showing in the elections for Mr. Sharif.
Mr. Ahsan argued that, in terms of Washington’s priority in Pakistan, the campaign against terror, the restoration of the judiciary and the end of Mr. Musharraf was essential. Weapons of war were not the primary ingredient for success against the Taliban and Al Qaeda, he said. “The only effective weapon is an empowered people with enforceable rights, and you can’t have those rights without an independent judiciary,” he said.
Mr. Ahsan is a senior member of the Pakistan Peoples Party, although he had a prickly relationship with Ms. Bhutto, who appeared to resent his independent streak.
One of Pakistan’s most sought-after lawyers, Mr. Ahsan defended Mr. Zardari and Ms. Bhutto in court when they faced corruption charges after her first term as prime minister, and won acquittals for the couple on 18 cases between 1990 and 1993, he said.
Mr. Zardari currently faces corruption charges in Switzerland. He said in an interview last week that corruption cases against him in Pakistan were still pending.
Mr. Ahsan warned that if a new parliamentary coalition did not heed the call to reinstate the judiciary, he was readying a campaign to pressure the new Parliament to do so.
On March 9, the anniversary of President Musharraf’s first suspension of the Supreme Court justice, Mr. Chaudhry, Mr. Ahsan said he would lead a long caravan of vehicles, coming from Lahore and other major cities, into Islamabad. The caravan would include scores of judges who had been dismissed late last year, at the same time Mr. Chaudhry was removed for a second time.
But with divisions between them over how to approach the question of President Pervez Musharraf’s future and the reinstatement of the judiciary that the president swept away when he imposed emergency rule last November, the likelihood of that partnership appeared to be in question.
Some analysts expected that, instead, Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of the slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and now the head of the party with the largest number of seats in the new parliament, would reach out to the remnants of Mr. Musharraf’s party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Q.
Nawaz Sharif, the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-N, which came in second to Mr. Zardari’s Pakistan Peoples Party, remains adamant on trying to bring impeachment proceedings against President Pervez Musharraf, who ousted Mr. Sharif from power in 1999 in a coup. Mr. Sharif also wants an immediate reinstatement of the judiciary, in particular the former chief justice, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, who has been under house arrest for three months.
To show his solidarity with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Mr.Sharif joined a noisy demonstration on Thursday outside the judge’s Islamabad home, where he has been kept in detention for the past three months. Mr. Sharif, speaking through a bullhorn to cheers, said that he would make sure in the next few days that the chief justice and dozens of other judges “illegally” fired by President Musharraf would be restored the bench. Mr. Sharif then asked the protesters to disband.
Mr. Zardari has taken a somewhat softer line on the restoration of the judiciary, saying it should be a matter for the new Parliament.
Several days after Ms. Bhutto was assassinated, Mr. Zardari lashed out at Mr. Musharraf’s party, accusing it of masterminding his wife’s death and calling it “the killer party.” But since the election Monday, Mr. Zardari has taken a less hard line. By Wednesday he had dropped his harsh references to Mr. Musharraf and the president’s defeated party.
As the maneuvering has intensified between the political parties in the last several days, the perception has grown among Pakistanis that the Bush administration would much prefer Mr. Zardari to join forces with the followers of Mr. Musharraf than Mr. Sharif.
The United States ambassador, Anne W. Patterson, met with Mr. Zardari Wednesday at the American embassy, an encounter that bolstered the belief among Pakistanis that Washington was in the thick of the political negotiations.
Statements from the White House and the State Department encouraging a broad consensus in a new government also added to the sense that the administration is eager to try to preserve some power for Mr. Musharraf, an ally in the campaign on terror.
Dana Perino, a White House spokeswoman, confirmed Thursday that Mr. Bush took time during a tour of African states to telephone Mr. Musharraf on Tuesday following the loss in the parliamentary elections. The call was made during Mr. Bush’s flight from Rwanda to Ghana, but Ms. Perino would not say what the two leaders discussed. She said it was up to the Pakistani people to decide whether Mr. Musharraf retained his position.
Some Pakistanis warned Thursday that the United States must stand back.
The leader of the opposition lawyers movement in Pakistan, Aitzaz Ahsan, who has been under house arrest for more than three months but is now able to speak by telephone, said he had told a visiting American diplomat on Wednesday: “The guy is history, please don’t prop him up.”
He said he underscored that Mr. Musharraf’s party had won only a fraction of the 272 parliamentary seats to the diplomat, Bryan Hunt, the United States consul general in Lahore. Mr. Ahsan has become a folk hero among the lawyers who fought President Musharraf’s battle with the Supreme Court chief justice and the judiciary in general. His steadfast stand behind the restoration of judges appeared to be a motivating force behind the surprisingly strong showing in the elections for Mr. Sharif.
Mr. Ahsan argued that, in terms of Washington’s priority in Pakistan, the campaign against terror, the restoration of the judiciary and the end of Mr. Musharraf was essential. Weapons of war were not the primary ingredient for success against the Taliban and Al Qaeda, he said. “The only effective weapon is an empowered people with enforceable rights, and you can’t have those rights without an independent judiciary,” he said.
Mr. Ahsan is a senior member of the Pakistan Peoples Party, although he had a prickly relationship with Ms. Bhutto, who appeared to resent his independent streak.
One of Pakistan’s most sought-after lawyers, Mr. Ahsan defended Mr. Zardari and Ms. Bhutto in court when they faced corruption charges after her first term as prime minister, and won acquittals for the couple on 18 cases between 1990 and 1993, he said.
Mr. Zardari currently faces corruption charges in Switzerland. He said in an interview last week that corruption cases against him in Pakistan were still pending.
Mr. Ahsan warned that if a new parliamentary coalition did not heed the call to reinstate the judiciary, he was readying a campaign to pressure the new Parliament to do so.
On March 9, the anniversary of President Musharraf’s first suspension of the Supreme Court justice, Mr. Chaudhry, Mr. Ahsan said he would lead a long caravan of vehicles, coming from Lahore and other major cities, into Islamabad. The caravan would include scores of judges who had been dismissed late last year, at the same time Mr. Chaudhry was removed for a second time.
No comments:
Post a Comment