Problems Wait For President Asif Ali Zardari
Monday, September 8, 2008 at 8:42 am
KARACHI: The president elect only has to look at the last week to see a daunting sample of the challenges ahead.
A suicide bombing killed 35 people. A U.S.-led raid from Afghanistan into Pakistan’s volatile northwest, apparently aimed at Taliban and al-Qaida militants, set off a firestorm of public criticism after it left at least 15 people dead.
The flagging economy showed no signs of rebounding, and the public wants quick results on all of them. Asif Ali Zardari may have easily won Saturday’s election by legislators, setting off jubilation by supporters of him and late wife Banazir Bhutto, but he is unlikely to have much time to relish the victory. Zardari kept out of the spotlight Sunday, preparing to be officially sworn in within a couple of days.
His party PPP and former ally PML-N are sure says Zardari’s election was simply a stop along the way to restoring full democracy in Pakistan.
But PML-N believes the transition requires yielding some presidential powers, which predecessor Pervez Musharraf increased since coming to power in a1999 military coup.
The president has the power to dissolve Parliament and appoint army chiefs, and chairs the joint civilian-military committee that controls Pakistan’s nuclear weapons.
Zardari is on the sharp edge of the learning curve now, a process that includes absorbing nuances of the complicated relationship Pakistan has with Washington, which provides billions of dollars in aid to its ally in the war on terrorism but wants Islamabad to do more to crack down on Islamic extremists in the militant-plagued tribal belt along the border, worried about rising violence in neighboring Afghanistan.
Even as legislators were voting Saturday, a massive suicide blast on the edge of the northwest city of Peshawar killed at least 35 people.
Zardari has vowed to be tough on militancy, but has a fine line to walk. Coming down too hard on insurgent activity risks inflaming public opinion and even a tribal reaction.
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