Word: pakistans
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...President is attacking every form of dissent," says Ayesha Siddiqa, a political and military analyst. "His very authoritarian behavior is raising a serious question: are we looking at Pakistan's Mr. Putin? And how does one deal with a President who breaks all promises?" Sensing opportunity, Sharif has cast himself as a man of principle and a victim of Zardari's excesses. Unburdened by the pressures of power, the Punjabi industrialist has been pushing the government to reinstate Chaudhry for over a year now. He quit the coalition government after Zardari backtracked on agreements to do so. A confrontation...
...comparisons with Musharraf's authoritarian tactics sharpened when, on Friday evening, two of Pakistan's lively TV news channels went off the air across vast swath of the country. Aaj TV's broadcasts were limited by cable operators, as Geo News, the most popular news channel, disappeared altogether in major cities. The channel's management accused Zardari of directly ordering the shutdown - charges that the President's spokesmen strenuously deny. "At around 7 p.m., we began receiving reports that people were not able to receive Geo on their television sets," says Azhar Abbas, director of Geo News. "After inquiries...
...these things, and now that you are in power you are not keeping your promises," he says of the government. "I think it the duty of journalists to remind politicians of their promises." Hours later, the government faced another setback when Sherry Rehman, a senior member of Zardari's Pakistan People's Party (PPP), resigned as Information Minister. Rehman had been a prominent campaigner for press freedom and had earlier vowed to resign if there was any move to muzzle journalists...
...have since been mounting public rallies, inflaming opposition to Zardari and gathering support for the long march. While he appears to have won popular support for the move, more discriminating observers believe that Sharif's calls for an independent judiciary are a tactic. Neither the PPP nor Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) have an attractive track record when it comes to the judiciary. Both parties stand accused of packing courts with pliable judges in search of favorable verdicts. In 1998, during his second term in office, Sharif's supporters stormed the Supreme Court when they feared...
...held out a peace offering to Sharif. It said it will now file a "review petition" in the Supreme Court, asking that it reconsider its order disqualifying the Sharifs from public office. But the Sharif camp has thus far refused to back down from its hardline position. And so, Pakistan's political crisis continues...