Word: zardari
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...Afghanistan seems a bit better than expected, Pakistan appears much worse. There are terrorist attacks - some quite spectacular - almost every day, but the fragile democratic government of Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of Benazir Bhutto, seems unwilling to admit the extent of the problem. "The terrorist threat is a cancer eating my country," Zardari told the small group of journalists accompanying the Mullen-Holbrooke mission, as he sat in his office, flanked by dramatic photos of his wife. It was a good line, but unsupported by anything resembling a strategy to combat the disease. When we asked about the role...
...Zardari's helplessness reflected one reality - the Pakistani army holds the real power in the country - but it also fed the parallel reality of an infantile political class, constantly squabbling, incapable of acting effectively even in a dire crisis. Holbrooke and Mullen saw it firsthand when a shouting match broke out before dinner at the U.S. embassy between a prominent Zardari aide and a leading member of the lawyers' group that had successfully forced the reinstatement of Pakistan's Chief Justice. "They're both moderate, secular leaders," one of those present commented later. "They should be focused on the desperate...
...Zardari's U.S.-backed government is continuing to struggle. The recent political turmoil has settled but has left the already unpopular President in a weaker position, making it even more difficult for him to influence the army and a skeptical public. "The ISI is run by the army and will do what [Army chief] General [Ashfaq] Kayani wants," says Sethi...
Sherry Rehman, a prominent member of Zardari's ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and a former minister, echoes the sentiment but allows that Islamabad should step up in its own efforts to battle the militants. "What is not helpful is saying that it is someone else's war," she says. "Yes, it may have arisen from interventions in the past such as in the Afghan jihad, but this is a very clear [and] present challenge. Whether it is homegrown or not, it is now in Pakistan, and solutions can only come up at a national level. International intervention...
...comments as his first act of political muscle-flexing since his dramatic restoration to power in late March. The Chief Justice was dismissed two years ago by then-President Pervez Musharraf because he would not support Musharraf's assumption of dictatorial power. When Musharraf's successor, Asif Ali Zardari, reneged on an agreement to restore Chaudhry to the Supreme Court, widespread demonstrations a few weeks ago led to his reinstatement. Chaudhry has probably the highest reserve of moral authority in the country...