Can Zardari Call Checkmate?

In a game of chess there are three possible ways of getting out of a check:

• Capturing the checking piece, with either the king or another piece.
• Moving the king to an adjacent square where it will not be in check.
• Blocking the check. This will only work if the checking piece is a queen, rook, or bishop and there is at least one empty square in the line between this checking piece and the checked king.

So far in the political chessboard of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif has managed to exercise the second option to get out of Asif Zardari’s incessant and clever checks.

There exists an agreement among the analysts, journalists and the people of Pakistan that Asif Zardari is not governing the country but playing pure politics. There also exists the agreement that this is necessary for someone who was sidelined in the party by the chairperson and his own wife and that the best way to avoid threats from within the party and the aggression from opponents is to attack them. And there exists no doubt among all that Mr. Zardari is playing his cards, or making his moves, flawlessly.

I don’t intend to praise Mr. Zardari in this post for his masterful strokes, nor do I plan to vilify him with charges or corruption (despite the synonymous nature of the words Zardari and corruption). (more…)

Salman Taseer Without Reservations!

I just watched this show called No Reservations on Dawn News, where the guest was Salman Taseer. Not surprisingly, he is a pretty outspoken but a very pragmatic person.

A few interesting replies from Salman Taseer to some questions:

Question: What comes to your mind when you hear about the following: Imran Khan?

Answer: Glamour and nonsense

Question: Who would you like to see in an advertisement for Moltyfoam?

Answer: That would be me

Question: Who would you like to see in an advertisement of sleeping pills?

Answer: That would be a politician from Punjab, you know who I’m talking about!

He also revealed the ups and downs of his life, business and politics including how he was treated by the Sharif brothers and how he managed to escape on the back of a motorcycle with his head covered by a towel.

It was a really interesting and candid interview and a must watch!!

Welcome Back To 90's

It didn’t take long for Nawaz Sharif to declare an open war against PPP. This was the script of the show with the departure of Pervez Musharraf, the reason PML-N stayed in the coalition for so long. Now that Pervez Musharraf is out, they had to oppose PPP to continue their politics, mostly that of confrontation.

The ground is all set for the battle in Punjab, which is the most important province to conquer if one is to sustain a government in center. The appointment of Salman Taseer was a key indication of PPP’s foresight.

Nawaz was quiet all along and kept hanging on just to jam all ways of PPP’s alliance with Pervez Musharraf. Now that his agenda is fulfilled, it didn’t take him long to part ways with his bitter enemy.

Many bloggers predicted this the day Musharraf resigned. Ammar talked about the start of a cat-fight, which is precisely what is happening between the two parties.

The stage is set for the next showdown in Punjab. PML-Q will play the role of kingmaker, as their alliance with any of the two parties will decide the fate of the government.

Its neither the issue of judiciary nor the choice of president that have caused this coalition to break but the imprudence and incompetence of this lot of politicians has resulted in the failure of this coalition. They were never sincere with the issues of the people, all they wanted was to get rid of Musharraf and get a share of power to fill their pockets. The provincial assemblies are busy criticising Musharraf and endorsing Zardari, completely ignoring the issues of the people of Pakistan.

This has always been the real face of these political parties and those who believed in a certain change of betterment after 18th Feb were living in a fool’s paradise.

The parties are busy playing the dirty game of politics with the camouflage of democracy. This should remind us the last few words of our former President:

Pakistan Ka Khuda Hafiz

Can't Help Admiring Zardari

No matter how much I hate him, I have to admire the man for his moves, courage and foresight.

First of all, despite the whole world labelling him as a notorious politician, corrupt, murderer and everything else, he never admitted any of those crimes. He went on to stay in prison for eleven years even when he had offers of exile. He kept his cool, stuck in, knowing there was light (and a lot of it) at the end of the tunnel.

He started his new era of politics on the back of Benazir’s death. On the front he continued to boast Nawaz Sharif as his big brother knowing very well that the coalition is temporary and hence preparing the ground for PML-N’s disgrace at the back-end.

A close analysis of the presidential issue shows that at first it was PML-N  who wanted Musharraf out of the scene, but the way our dear President bowed out gave most of the credit to PPP rather than PML-N.

While the judiciary issue is the backbone of PML-N’s current success Zardari made numerous promises and then backed out leaving the fool Sharif standing in no man’s land. This has dented PPP’s reputation undoubtedly, but PML-N’s popularity is also hurt by this tactic of Zardari.

This is politics at its best. To dent PML-N further, Zardari created an environment where PML-N is left with no option but to quit themselves, and in case the system is wrapped it, the blame will go squarely on PML-N for destabilising a democratic government.

Zardari, as president, can also reinstate Iftikhar Chaudhry as th CJP because the president has some protections of not facing all those cases of corruption. So President Zardari will have no fear of NRO being revoked by the judiciary. And then he can also take the credit of restoring the judges himself.

He has forced PML-N in a closed chamber having Salman Taseer in Punjab and now having talks with PML-Q for support.

All this is leading to the politics of 90′s, which we all detest. But we have to admire Zardari for excellent political gambits. Despite all such political excellence, I, and most of us, will continue to hate Zardari!

Battle For Punjab Begins

The late night breaking news on private TV channels came as a little surprise to me after the sour marriage of PPP and PML-N. Khalid Maqbool, appointed by Pervez Musharraf, was being considered as acceptable to the majority party of Punjab, PML-N. So why this change at the top level? And why Salman Taseer? And, who is Salman Taseer?

Salman Taseer is a highly educated man, a chartered accountant from England and Wales. His resume is extremely impressive and illustrious (read profile). But more important is his political affiliation. He has served as a federal minister earlier for PPP. More recently, he was inducted as the minister for industries in the caretaker setup under PM Soomro. Coming to the point, Mr. Taseer, on his political side, is affiliated with the PPP and also has favorable links with President Musharraf.

The presence of a pro-PPP and pro-Musharraf governor in Punjab is an alarming situation for PML-N. This act is basically designed to keep in check the PML-N’s government in Punjab while strengthening the control of PPP in the province. This is also an antithesis to what both the party leaders expressed in media regarding the support of each other’s government. In fact, this is yet another great political move by Asif Zardari from his newly acquired political wisdom, which at the moment seems invincible.

The way I see it, in the near future, PML-N will either quit or will be forced out (or forced to leave) the Punjab government as well. And when that happens, PPP will already be having their man in command even if they don’t get their own CM.

Punjab, historically, decides the dynamics of politics in Pakistan. With PML-N leaving the center (and not Punjab), it was imperative for PPP to keep a check on the PML-N’s government in Punjab (who at the moment seems to be overly aggressive).