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By Masror Hausen
In the brinkmanship between the government and the military,
President Asif Ali Zardari might put a gag on his Prime Minister to steer the government
out of murky waters, sources claim.
Already running in a survival mode, the PPP-led coalition
government needs to stay in power till March 2 so that it can hold the critical
Senate elections that will give it an absolute single-party majority in the
upper house.
However, Monday Supreme Court issued a contempt notice to Prime Minister Gillani in the NRO validity case
and a judicial panel of the apex court adjourned the hearing till Jan 25. Mansoor Ijaz told the court he would arrive in Pakistan on Jan 25. This will further mount pressure
on President Zardari and Prime Minister Gillani.
In order to disarm the other opponent—the military—President
Asif Ali Zardari may sacrifice Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani’s voice with
the understanding that it will appease the military chief who has personally
complained of Gillani’s allegations of taking “illegal” steps.
Senior Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi and Religious Affairs
Minister Khurshid Shah are tipped to take the leading role, sources say on
condition of anonymity
Right when the army chief General Kiyani was on an important
official visit to China, Prime Minister Gillani told a Chinese news agency that
General Kiyani and ISI chief Shuja Pasha’s act of submitting personal
statements before the Supreme Court in the memogate case was “unconstitutional”
and “illegal.”
Insiders believe the Prime Minister was told by advisors
that the army chief had actually gone to Beijing
On army chief’s return from Beijing
Minutes after the press release went on air, Prime Minister
removed the Defence Secretary Lt Gen (retd)
Naeem Khalid Lodhi from his post and appointed his own confidante,
Nargis Sethi, in his place. General Lodhi was close to General Kiyani.
As the Prime Minister and the military stayed on collision
course, media and political pundits warned of a military coup. But the military
viewed it as damaging to country’s image and a step that the Prime Minister and
his government might use as a ruse to hide their ineffectual governance and
alleged corruption.
Finally, as tension refused to go away, Chaudhry Shujaat
Hussain is said to have jumped in to broker a meeting between the military
leadership and President Zardari.
Sources inside PML-Q and PPP believe General Kiyani took up
the Prime Minister’s posturing with President Zardari and demanded that Gillani
clarify the statement to the Chinese media or retract it. This is officially
denied by the President House.
Early Monday morning a defiant Prime Minister Gillani told
reporters in Vehari, “I will not answer a person…the
prime minister is answerable to parliament.”
The government sacked the former ambassador to the United States
Meanwhile, President Zardari has also agreed to write a
letter to the Swiss authorities to ask them to re-open the money-laundering
case against himself and his late wife Benazir Bhutto, sources say. This step
will most likely buy the government time to hold Senate elections on March 2.
Last week Zardari had told a popular TV channel in Pakistan
The letter is a bone of contention between the government
and the Supreme Court. The apex court has time and again asked government
authorities to re-open the money-laundering case against President Zardari and
late Benazir Bhutto.
(Additional reporting by Kashif Rafique)
