After a dramatic decamping to Dubai, Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif reached an agreement on the restoration of the judiciary that should allow the coalition to live to fight another day.
Though details are still sketchy, Sharif told reporters after a second day of talks with Zardari that, “The meeting has made progress in a very positive way. We are now satisfied.”
Information Minister Sherry Rehman, a senior leader in Zardari’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) also said, “We are very satisfied with the results of the talks.”
At the time of writing, it is too early to find reactions on the internet, though one thing that did strike me was that there seemed to be rather less chatter on the blogosphere about the Zardari-Sharif talks than when the coalition was first formed. Does this mean people in Pakistan are already tired of the judiciary question? Or are Pakistanis simply a little bit more sanguine about the nature of politics?
Before the announcement of an agreement, defence analyst Ikram Sehgal wrote in The News that Zardari did well to show he was not going to be bullied by Sharif into restoring the judiciary en masse within the 30-day deadline agreed between the PPP and the PML (N), which expired on Wednesday. “If PPP had submitted to blackmail…” he wrote of the PML threat to pull out of the coalition…”they would have been politically dead.
On the other side, in an open letter to Zardari published in Dawn, Ghazala Minallah urged him to support full restoration of the judiciary. “You can either prove yourself to be a selfless, pragmatic leader, rising above personal grudges, or you can go down in history as the man who deprived this nation of an opportunity that can come only once in a lifetime,” he wrote.
In the middle of all this, Prime Miniser Yousaf Raza Gilani spelled out in the Washington Post a plan to tackle Pakistan’s problems, from its economy to the presence of al Qaeda. ”We want to show the world that our nation is back in business, with an overwhelming mandate from our people,” he wrote.
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3 comments so far
I totally agree that the people are fed up of the reinstatement of judges issue.This started as purely a stand by a judge who knew that otherwise he had no chance.What makes one wonder is who organised the movement launched following this event.Was it already planned before the CJ was summonend? It is said that the CJ had gone to see the President with a prior knowledge as to what is awaiting him. If so who are the hidden hands behind this organisation of strikes etc. and who provided the finances for it?For sure it has cost a bomb.
- Posted by A.K.SiddiqiPeople are more interested in getting their probems sorted.Roti is the main issue, followed closely by joblessness.electricity shortages and other problems of daily life are more important needing solutions.
I am fed up of these politicians never tiring of remiding us what they have inherited.They had already been talking of this before elections. It was time they got started and pulled up their sleeves.Pakistan and its masses are waiting to see the results,not keep hearing the rhetorics.They knew what they were going to inherit and never made any secret of it when they had been blaming the then govt. in talk shows on our very partisan Independent TV channels.
The intriguing thing about all this airdashing (as it used to be called) to and from Dubai (and why on earth couldn’t they meet in their own country?) is that the negotiations about the judiciary, affecting the future of the nation, were conducted by two persons who were not elected to the National Assembly by the people of Pakistan. One summoned the other to meet him, indeed, which appears slightly feudal.
There is a perfectly good PPP prime minister, who was elected ; and a leader of the PML(N) opposition, who was also elected. Others, too, could represent the views of MNAs who, at least in some cases, reflect the wishes of their constituents.
Pakistan is now entirely democratic in governance, so why are democratically elected representatives not at the head of political delegations discussing Constitutional matters?
No matter what decisions are made by Messrs Zardari and Nawaz Sharif, these cannot possibly be binding on their political parties — or other political parties — without democratic debate. It would be appropriate were the National Assembly to be recalled into session to debate and vote on the issue.
That’s what democracy is all about.
- Posted by beeceeI think people of Pakistan should get used to the political tactics and maneuvering. It takes time to reach consensus in democratic process.
Gone are the days of military dictators and their split second decision without taking anyone into confidence and ruining the country.
- Posted by Imran Khan