Incessant Gibbers

Are there more surprises in the bag of the co-chairman of PPP? Rumors are rife about the possibility of Zardari stepping down as the presidential candidate of PPP at the last possible moment. The covering candidate is Faryal Talpur, whose appointment to the office of President was almost sure at one time. Will Zardari back out or not? Let’s have a look at the pros and cons for him.

I’ll first discuss the advantages for Zardari if he decides to go ahead with his nomination.

This is perhaps the first and the last chance for Zardari to play such high level power politics in Pakistan. Getting elected to the powerful office of President will legitimise his current role of pulling the strings in the country. He is, undoubtedly, the most powerful man in the country right now and hence being the president will legalise his role in policy-making.

Getting elected to the office of President, Zardari will have no fear of the judges (if they’re restored) or the cancellation of NRO because the constitution of Pakistan does provide protection to the president in office such that none of his previous cases can be reopened as long as he is in office while any current charges cannot be taken up in the courts, the only forum being the Parliament where his party enjoys a viable majority.

If Zardari decides to go ahead, he will have to declare all his assets. These may not be difficult to hide for him, but I suppose the list is long enough to hide. So this can be a troubling aspect. If a lot of it is declared then we all know what that can lead to.

In case he backs out, will that decision be fruitful for him?

He will still have the fear of NRO and hence cannot restore the judges, which apparently he isn’t interested in doing in any case.

Backing out in favor of someone else might have been popular decision, but giving the chance to his own sister will raise eyebrows.

The people of Pakistan may breathe a sigh of relief if Zardari backs out, so the decision may appear to be one respecting public sentiments.

Zardari may be able to gather more votes from other parties if he himself is not the one standing for the chair.

At the moment, nothing can be said with certainty. There is a lot at stake for Zardari. Both decisions can have far reaching effects. A deep analysis of the situation isn’t conclusive enough to predict the events of the next two days.

So, I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed hoping for some common sense to prevail.