Papers – Dec 30st 2011
Pakistan’s febrile[1]
politics
Open spats
The
president returns—to a viper’s[2] nest
partly of his own making
Dec 31st 2011 | ISLAMABAD | from the print edition
ON DECEMBER 19th the president of
Pakistan, Asif Zardari, returned to the country after a two-week absence in
Dubai. Officially, Mr Zardari had been getting treatment for a mild stroke.[3]
But the belief was growing that the army was forcing him into exile.
For
the time being, Mr Zardari’s return appears to have scotched[4]
these rumours. Still, his troubles have not gone away. They include a scandal
over a leaked memo that drew the president into an open spat[5]
with the country’s military establishment; a political opposition pressing him
hard for early elections; a dire[6]
economy; and imploding[7]
relations with the United States. Perhaps the mere survival of the government,
led by Mr Zardari’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), for almost four years is a feat[8]
of sorts.[9]
But the government has achieved pitifully[10]
little, while the ruling cabal[11]
has lined its pockets[12]
with gusto.[13]
[1] extremely
active, or too excited, imaginative or emotional
[3] a sudden serious illness when a blood vessel (= tube) in the
brain bursts or is blocked, which can cause death or the loss of the ability to
move or to speak clearly
[6] very
serious or extreme
[12] get richer or make somebody richer, especially by taking
unfair advantage of a situation or by being dishonest
With the president determined to hang on,[1]
the armed forces, which seem incapable of staying out of politics, have a
problem. They want to be rid of Mr Zardari, but they do not want to stage
another coup. Nor do they want to see the opposition leader, Nawaz Sharif, come
to power, since they do not trust him.
Mr Zardari knows that if he tries to
sack the army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, then he may well get the coup he
fears. Mr Sharif, meanwhile, wants to force[2]
elections (not due until February 2013) without playing into the hands of the
generals. There is what Cyril Almeida, a columnist, describes as a Mexican standoff.[3]
The opposition lacks the numbers in
parliament to impeach[4]
Mr Zardari. And so the action has moved to the courts in looking for grounds on
which to pursue[5]
him, even though it is unclear how a sitting president’s constitutional immunity[6]
from prosecution[7]
might be circumvented.[8]
After
the president’s return from Dubai, his prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani,
spoke openly of coup fears for the first time, claiming that “conspiracies are
being hatched[9]
here to pack up[10]
the elected government”; the army should not act as a “state within the state”.
[3] a Mexican standoff is
most precisely a confrontation between three opponents, facing each other; a situation in which no one can emerge as a clear winner
[7] the process of trying to prove in court that somebody is
guilty of a crime (=
of prosecuting them)
The army’s tactic[1]
appears to be to apply pressure until Mr Zardari snaps,[2]
or at least to weaken his government so that it can merely limp on until a more
agreeable administration can somehow be installed.[3] At
the heart of the current coercion is a labyrinthine[4]
scandal in which the government is accused of plotting against its own armed
forces, by making a “treacherous”[5]
offer to the United States that took the form of a mysterious memo. These days
in Pakistan, America is regarded more as an enemy than as the ally it is
supposed to be.
The anonymous memo was delivered in May
to America’s top brass.[6] It
offered to rein in Pakistan’s armed forces in return for more robust[7]
American support for the civilian government. The messenger was a
Pakistani-American businessman, Mansoor Ijaz. He claimed to be acting on the
instructions of Pakistan’s then ambassador to Washington, DC, Husain Haqqani.
In
November Mr Haqqani, who was close to Mr Zardari, was fired over the claims,
which he denies. Pakistan’s activist[8]
Supreme Court has taken up “Memogate”. Although the government has asked the
court to dismiss the “non-issue”, the army demands that the judges investigate
the matter fully. On December 27th, the fourth anniversary of the death of his
wife, Benazir Bhutto, Mr Zardari demanded to know why the courts hounding[9]
him were not going after the assassins instead.
[4] complex; complicated; a complicated series of paths, which it is difficult to find
your way through
[5] intending to
harm you; deceitful
[8] someone
who works hard doing practical things to achieve social or political change
[9] keep following somebody and not leave them alone, especially
in order to get something from them or ask them questions; harass
Memogate is also about Pakistan’s
troubled alliance with America, one that seems unlikely to recover from body
blows it has received in the past year. The latest was a “friendly-fire”[1]
assault by American helicopters on a Pakistani border post with Afghanistan, in
which two-dozen Pakistani soldiers were killed. Americans are coming to terms
with the fact that a broad, decade-long security relationship with Pakistan,
seen as essential to producing stability in Afghanistan, is coming to a close
with little to show for it.
Into
all this has charged[2]
a cricketer-turned-politician. Imran Khan has spent 15 years in the political
wilderness, but in the past few months he has gained huge momentum.[3] On
December 25th Mr Khan staged the second blockbuster[4]
rally in as many months, in the volatile[5]
city of Karachi. He is riding high[6]
on an anti-corruption and anti-American agenda. Many believe that the army
would like to see Mr Khan come to power, and that it may be providing him with
help. In recent weeks Mr Khan has gathered around him a gang of army-friendly defectors[7]
from other political parties. Chalk up[8]
one more challenge for Mr Zardari.
[1] in a war, if people are killed or injured by friendly
fire, they are hit by a bomb or weapon that is fired by their own side
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