For many the headline itself is a scary thought, but I assure you its not unimaginable…
Looking at the address by ‘Sir’ Musharraf to his humble servants today at 8pm was nothing even close to the ‘breaking news‘ we all expected but the more ‘shocking news’ was immediately following, the Press Conference by ‘Sir’ Zardari this press conference whosoever watched the press conference would have said watched Zardari in full authoritarian mode, I have seen Benazir run a press conferences, I have seen Musharraf run a Press Conferences, but when you watch Asif Ali Zardari run this gig one could shudder with the though that God forbid one day he be allowed to run our country. I stand utterly dejected at the though that the games these rulers are set to play with Pakistan, ALL OVER AGAIN
Let me explain my fears, Its sad but I actually see Pakistan back to square one just before 27th Dec – if we recall – many of us (probably not all) had total distrust with PPP as they were only there to grab their own seat of power and as a bargain patronize Musharraf, but other then that they had little or no concern with setting things straight in Pakistan, which would have meant fixing the judicial body hence Benazir simply had little or no concern for CJP Iftikhar Chaudhry or the notion of ‘Restoration of Judiciary’. For BB it was a game of words she had switched her campaign tactic from ‘Restoration of Judiciary’ to ‘Independence of Judiciary’. Everyone knew for a fact that BB will not, even for a moment, give a thought to the old non-PCO Judges quite simply because it would threaten her own existence in light of the NRO protection. Sadly with Benazir gone – its interesting to see that most of Pakistan remains distracted, yes I too sympathize the loss of the Daughter of the East, but when I see Zardari in place of BB running the PPP I shudder with the consequences for Pakistan
Musharraf gets kicked out by a 2/3 majority vote then person to replace him is Asif ZardariLet us not forget for a moment that PPP will practically do nothing but become a replacement to the PML-Q (as a after the elections I expect Chaudhry’s to be reduce to cleaning cupboards), Musharraf will continue, and we would effectively have the same rubber stamping judiciary. Zardari will definitely give Musharrf a run for his ‘money’ if for nothing else, granted Zardari will be tougher then the docile Chaudhry’s, but even if Musharraf ends up getting kicked in the balls, the person to replace him is – now don’t hold your breath – ASIF ALI ZARDARI, mind you in his press conference with Bilawal, he may have apparently ruled himself out of the running for the elections and the PM slot but he made no mention about the Presidential seat, that may open up when PPP lands a sweeping victory, or after he chews out the remaining skull bones left in Musharraf – hence we may rid ourselves of Musharraf but then its Zardari ……..a very scary thought, martial law seems better
Sadly I cannot for a moment trust Zardari. in all honesty I would have worked with the new hope of Bilawal, or even Fatima Bhutto the rightful heir of the Bhutto empire, but Zardari….. we are in for some bad times, if people had a look at the press conference the way he conducted and addressed it, I assure you this is just only a precursor to what we will see when he will have the power under his belt, lets not forget to start counting the zero’s after the 10%, hes an experienced crook and third time around, first will be get even with all his Jailers then he will get back to work…. mind you the old saying once a crook always a crook, many see an Altaf Hussain II in the making.
I remain utterly resolute – even after BB’s assassination concerned Pakistanis must work against these evil designs of Zardari, Mush, PML-Q and the corrupt election commission – what I feel is yes, the PPP has a sympathetic vote going for them, they might come in full force that may be their democratic right but to save Pakistan we must work towards the restoration or complete independence of judiciary that’s the only salvation for Pakistan. I feel its sad that Imran Khan is out of the loop of these election, but in all honesty – and i say it with a little bias, since I agreed with their move to boycott back then, with the hope that other like minded parties might follow, sadly they left him stranded on an island – they had made a choice on principle for whats best for Pakistan and not to contest under a corrupt election commission and an illegal dictator, they had a point of view and stood up for it, they might suffer this elections, but even now they truly remain a party to whom I would vote for the hope of fixing things in Pakistan, and no one else. Had if … they were participating in the elections … is another story all together.
I feel what come may, saner Pakistani elements must stand united and appeal for the point as outlined earlier by Naeem Sadiq – What Choices do we Have
- Musharraf must resign and be made accountable for constitutional violations before a court of law.
- The 1973 constitution as it stood on 12 October 1999 be restored.
- The pre November 3 judiciary must be restored and all PCO judges removed.
- A new neutral and caretaker government and an independent election commission be appointed to hold elections within 3 months.
I think in this light – we must urge for a total boycott of the elections – this elections as we know, is all a scam – with whatever notion of democracy that may emerge, is scam at best. To live to fight another day — sadly Pakistan might not have another day if left at the hands of these crooks
I shed a tear yet again for Pakistan, May god help us all
Comments
15 responses to “From President Musharraf to President Zardari”
Before Bhuttos found socialism, it stood for something..And may be, just may be, before Zardari found Bhuttos, they stood for someting!
Hi,
I have been following your website for a few months and I respected your opinion on many issues but I guess your stance on Zardari is very much biased. If this guys gets 2/3 majority from people of Pakistan, then why should anyone have an issue. Its the people of Pakistan who have to decide not you. Please don’t let your personal biases overcome your analysis else you will soon loose most of your blog readers.
Thanks
Personal biases is why he writes and personal biases is why we read. Keep it up doc… scary picture btw
is this press conference by zaradi uploaded on any site? if so can u plz tell?
Honestly… that press conference was scary as hell for me too.
Zardaris tone was the worst part, he was speaking like a zamindar speaks to his haris.
I think PPP will definitely stand to lose from this power shift at its top. Zardari will cause rifts… and the more saner facets of the party will break away from it. The way he handles things, he will cause discredit to the PPP & nothing else.
Let us assume that Zardair is corrupt, he is talking like a fudal and accept all allegations level against him in previous years as well the points raised in this article.
What will happen if Zardari is removed (some how) from scene, the split in PPP will be inevitable, there are so many inside party itself who will want to be leaders. A faction will be headed by Fatima Bhutto, another by Fudals of South Punjab and possibly the third one by Itazaz.
What would be the impact of such split is something to worry about, these all factions would hardly be the regional groups rather then representing all provences and segments of society.
Here is only one hope that Itazaz group is accepted by people in entire country, but basis of their politics would be anti establishment and anti status quo to attract people around them, for that they would need strong resistance against government and countrywide protests.
There is equal possibility that pro establishment religious extremists may hijack any such movement and divert it in to a desaster pushing liberal elements in background by use of guns and violence.
In present situation the only force which can keep us away from civil war and further division is PPP with Bhutto factor and Zardari who is willing to negotiate and talk about federation.
Even a corrupt and fudal Zardari is much better and would be a light to unite our divided nation, however if he proves himself to what people are expecting it wont be difficult for democratic forces and civil society to remove him through democratic process (in case we have an alternate which is able to represent federation).
Dictatorship can only survive if people are divided and leader dont have public support, any leader who enjoys public support either corrupt or fudal would be lesser evil then Musharaf.
Agree with Kamran!
ISI and other agencies hav used all their resources to present Asif Zardari as a Villian; but so far they havn’t been successful to prove even a single case. Government and Agencies have spent millions of rupees for these cases and the media trial of Mr. Zardari.
Not having seen Zardari on TV for many years, my first reaction when he came up was that he now resembles Zia-ul-Haq.
Quite right Mr. Kamran, I totally agree with you.
Mr. Daantwala has immense biased stance on Mr. Zardari.
In prior govts of Mr. Nawaz Sharif’s and Mohtarma’s corruption was at its peak (no doubt), but things have changed now! Zardari spent 8 years in prinson (whatever, comfortable ones) but he himself has lost so much, 8 years of imprisonment, then a Heart Attack, then 27th Dec.
Why do you only consider Mr. Zardari feudal lord? most of the ppl in Pakistani (Pak) Politics are Feudals, why a biased opinion only for Mr. Zardari?
Rangers and army jawans are now taking care of cities and around the country and they will remain before and after 18th feb 2008,every body knows these jawans always ready to help of there favorite party to fill the ballot boxes..Peace.
Both Zardari and mussarf are on the same boat of ruling mafia.Mr zardari is justifying the response of public as mourners for BB. wake up feudal lord.These are hungry and insecure people of yours constituency.While you and yours family had opted luxurious life style in dubai US and UK,these people have become vicitm of poor management of PPP.You transferred public money to your swiss accounts or spent in surray castle for the best life style and these people have opted street crimes for their survival.
Same manner our dumb general handled our poor nation.People wanted security from army and they give us suicidal bombers.People want flour and sugar from mussarf and he gave them nuclear missile and cross border smuggling.People want power to live but army give us loadshedding and dark future.Like zardari, mussarf’s men or soldiers are rebelling against general’s order and now he is giving them court martials.
Unfortunately, a vast majority of Pakistanis on the Internet now were not old enough to really understand what was going on in the country during the two terms of Benazir Bhutto.
You can argue endlessly with those who consider Asif Zardari their personal savior, so I will not do that.
To them, all I have to say is “You deserve Asif Zardari”
Pakistan has had too many revolutions in its history, I remember studying for my Pakistan studies exam and all the dates of when someone came into power and then thrown out drove me crazy. Not a single Prime minister was able to complete his/her term in the first 50 years of Pakistan.
Now that I am in a position to invest in Pakistani software industry, I have problem justifying my choices because of all the stupid ‘revolutionaries’ trying to burn tires, beat up mentally less fortunate children at Edhi villiage, and throwing stones and burning cars without caring if there are children inside the vehicle.
I have almost given up on these stupid Pakistanis, may you live to see what you have done.
Zardari impressed me for 1st time in his life, give this man another chance, we need his help to remove the dictator.
No we dont need to give this man another chance. BB knew this and that is the reason why she stopped his nomination.
As for now, PP is going the win the election and their Government will be overthrown in about 1.5 – 2.5 years.
In coming years Imran Khan, Justice Sahib, Bilawal, and Zulfiqar Jr. will play important parts in political scene. As I see it Justice Sahib is a successful presidential candidate and lastly MQM will keep haunting our peaceful lives till something totally outrageous happens (like BB incident) to their party or that Khusra in London
It’s been almost 8 months since this article was written by Teeth Maestro… and it has proved to be SPOT ON WORD TO WORD! So bravo Mr. Teeth.
And as all power hungry and blood thirsty politicians are gathering now, to decide who should sit on the hot, lucrative chair called ‘President’… I am scared SHITLESS.
May God open our eyes. May God save our nation.
And like Mr. Farhan, I too have given up all hope. But I haven’t lost faith in HIM, and so pray to Him that even 100 years after I’m dead, wherever the right time is, He’ll swing this the right way.