Pakistan: Zardari, from 'Mr. 10-percent' to President 10-percent

Tariq Ali: Asif Ali Zardari is Pakistan's worst choice for president | guardian.co.uk

Khalilzad is an inveterate factionalist and a master of intrigue. Having implanted Hamid Karzai in Kabul (with dire results as many in Washington now admit), he had been livid with Musharraf for refusing to give 100% support to his Afghan protege. Khalilzad now saw an opportunity to punish Musharraf and simultaneously try and create a Pakistani equivalent of Karzai.

Zardari fitted the bill. He is perfectly suited to being a total creature of Washington. The Swiss government helpfully decided to release millions of dollars from Zardari's bank accounts that had, till now, been frozen due to the pending corruption cases. Like his late wife, Zardari, too, is now being laundered, just like the money he made when last in office as minister for investment. This weakness will make him a pliant president of Pakistan.

Tariq Ali : Pakistan After Musharraf

With elections set in Pakistan for September 6, "the senior party in Pakistan’s governing coalition on Friday nominated Asif Ali Zardari, widower of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, as its candidate." Tariq Ali offers some perspective on the possible transition in power:

Pakistan After Musharraf: How Long Before the Military is Back at the Helm?
By Tariq Ali
August 18, 2008

Now Musharraf will go in disgrace, threatened with impeachment and abandoned by most of his cronies, who grew rich under his rule and are now sidling shamelessly in the direction of the new power-brokers. The country has moved seamlessly from a moth-eaten dictatorship to a moth-eaten democracy. Six months after the old, morally obtuse, political gangs returned to power, the climate has further deteriorated. The widower Bhutto and his men are extremely unpopular. The worm-eaten tongues of long discredited politicians and resurrected civil servants are on daily display. Removing Musharraf, who is even more unpopular, might win the politicians some time, but not for long.

Amidst the hullabaloo there was one hugely diverting moment last week that remind[ed] one of pots and kettles. Asif Zardari, the caretaker-leader of the People’s Party who runs the government and is the second richest man in the country (funds that accrued when his late wife was Prime Minister) accused Musharraf of corruption and siphoning official US funds to private bank accounts. For once the noise of laughter drowned the thunder of money.

...Other problems persist. The politicians are weak and remain divided on the restoration of the judges sacked by Musharraf. The Chief Justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, is the most respected person in the country. Zardari is reluctant to see him back at the head of the Supreme Court. A possible compromise might be to offer him the Presidency. It would certainly unite the country for a short time.

Over the last fifty years the US has worked mainly with the Pakistan Army. This has been its preferred instrument. Nothing has changed. How long before the military is back at the helm?

Pakistan Justice Coalition welcomes Musharraf’s resignation

The NLG-affiliated Pakistan Justice Coalition has posted remarks on General/President Musharraf's exit from power in Pakistan:

Along with the Pakistani people, we welcome the resignation of Pervez Musharraf as a victory in the struggle for democracy, rule of law and human rights. Musharraf’s rapid fall from power demonstrates the bankruptcy of the Bush administration’s policy of advocating liberty while supporting autocracy. As we have stated, the real struggle today is not between democracy and terror, but between those who support expansion of democratic and human rights and those who seek to infringe upon them. The Bush Administration supported the Musharraf regime on the grounds that it was an ally in the so-called “war on terrorism” and overlooked its violations of the most fundamental democratic rights. Both Administrations also refused to respect judicial independence, accepting the removal and incarceration of over half of Pakistan’s legitimate judges. In the face of popular opposition that even potentially rigged elections could not conceal, the Musharraf presidency was finally — and fortunately — doomed to failure. President Bush often claims liberty is the birthright and natural desire of all people. Had he really believed his rhetoric, however, he would have supported the heroic lawyers of Pakistan in their demands, rather than the now-deposed and discredited Musharraf.

The Lawyers Movement has represented the legal profession at its best. We stand with it and share the joy of its triumph. While Pakistan’s future remains far from certain, it has taken an enormous step forward