After Setbacks, Pakistani President May Have Weathered Storm, McClatchy Newspapers, 6 January 2010
EXCERPT: "Pakistan’s US-backed president, Asif Ali Zardari, appears to have survived a campaign to oust him, a storm that had threatened to sidetrack the country from its battle with Islamic extremists. Although there were predictions in the last few months of 2009 that he was finished, Zardari has defended himself aggressively in recent days and won some political allies. The news media and the judiciary had appeared to be closing in on him, but in a world of political shadow boxing, many analysts and politicians think that Pakistan’s powerful military has been behind the drive to force the president out of office. . . The confrontation had sparked fears that the army, which has ruled Pakistan for most of its existence, would intervene again, perhaps to force fresh elections when the country is under pressure from the Obama administration to launch an offensive in North Waziristan, a vital Pakistani refuge for al Qaida and the Taliban. The army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, has let it be known repeatedly that he’s not interested in getting involved in politics, but the Pakistan People's Party, the country's largest political party, remains wary."
Read the full story.
Related posts:
An embattled Zardari battles back [blog], At War // The New York Times, 7 January 2010
PPP, Zardari emerge as "survivors" from 2009, Daily Times, 7 January 2010
NWFP assembly backs President Zardari, DAWN, 6 January 2010
Balochistan PA reposes confidence on Zardari, DAWN, 5 January 2010
Resolutions for Pakistan in 2010, East West Institute, 31 December 2009
Related posts:
Amnesty upheaval leading to "slow-burning disarray"?, 22 December 2009
Tensions mount, opposition holds off full attack on Zardari, 21 December 2009
Zardari under pressure to resign following court ruling, 17 December 2009
At the precipice: Is Pakistan about to fail?, 10 December 2009
Pakistan leader faces court test, militant attacks, 9 December 2009
