Governments to be dismissed soon for failure to stem terrorism, Peshawar mullahs government may also be thrown out!
Major political shakeup in the offing?
Staff Report
dailytimes.com.pk
Islamabad: Despite denials by senior government officials, Daily Times sources insist that it is only a matter of time before the Sindh political dispensation is wrapped up by President Pervez Musharraf.
Islamabad is also rife with whispers that President Musharraf is unhappy with Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali for various reasons and has asked him to step aside. Mr Jamali, say sources, has declined to do so. Since the budget session is due soon, sources said that any in-house change will most probably come after the budget session is over.
In view of the impending change, prime ministerial hopefuls like Khurshid Kasuri, the foreign minister, and Hamayun Akhtar Rehman, the commerce minister, are redoubling their efforts to present themselves as viable alternatives to Mr Jamali, said sources.
Sources claimed that President Musharraf has apparently given the Sindh government a short time frame and a new action plan in which to sort out the violent mess in Karachi, failing which he may sack both the Sindh governor and the chief minister and impose Governor’s Rule under a new handpicked governor.
Mr Jamali’s fate, said sources, was sealed several months ago when a perception was created in the minds of the advisers of President Musharraf that the prime minister could not deliver on good governance or help him fend his way in negotiations with the MMA on the issue of the LFO and the 17th constitutional amendment. Later Mr Jamali’s opposition to the National Security Council made matters worse. In due course, tensions between Mr Jamali and Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain erupted over matters of appointments and administrative control, which became acute when Mr Jamali lobbied with Pir Pagaro and tried to stop Chaudhry Shujaat from seizing full control of the unified Muslim League. Mr Jamali’s relations with President Musharraf’s right hand man, Tariq Aziz, the secretary of the National Security Council, are said to be decidedly cool. Mr Aziz is also the biggest benefactor of the Chaudries of Gujrat. In this context, the Punjab Chief Minister, Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, is also said to be quietly lobbying for the post of prime minister.
If there were to be an in-house change in Islamabad, diplomatic sources told Daily Times that Pakistan’s biggest benefactor, the United States of America, would turn a blind eye to it as an internal matter of Pakistan. Washington considers General Musharraf to be an invaluable ally at the moment and will not do anything to upset his apple cart provided the semblance of “business as usual” under the formal rules of democracy is maintained.
Sources also confirmed that General Musharraf would prefer that Mr Jamali voluntarily step aside and enable the president to choose his successor without too much turmoil in parliament. “But if he refuses to do so, then the president and army chief will have no choice but to lean on him and failing that to contrive a revolt against him in parliament,” said the source. Using his powers under 58-2B could be a messy exercise since it would be open to judicial challenge. |
