(Please note the informative glossary of terms and names at the bottom of the page which helps to elucidate Talha's report and to provide an understanding of Pakistan as the nation struggles under the glare of Obama's "war on terror". -eds.)

In 2007, under US pressure Pakistani President General Musharraf, made a political settlement with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)¹, and cleared off all their corruption cases by bringing in an ordinance known as the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO)². This was nothing more than a clean sheet to the biggest most corrupt individuals of PPP and other political parties of Pakistan. Under the NRO all cases against corrupt individuals were not to be heard in any court in Pakistan and corruption cases filed by Government of Pakistan in Spain, Switzerland and courts in other countries were also dropped. The US Secretary of State Condi Rice had brokered this deal with a guarantee from Musharraf and Benazir that they both will work together on this deal.

Once Musharraf was forced to resign and leave office, in came the most corrupt man of Pakistan, Asif Zardari as the President of Pakistan. Once the Chief Justice Iftikhar Choudary³ was restored as the Chief Justice of Supreme Court, it became clear that it was only a matter of time before the Supreme Court would the NRO. This is exactly what happened on Dec 16th when the Pakistani Supreme Court killed NRO once and for all. On Dec 17th the Supreme Court has placed some of the key members of Zardari government on the exit control list, which means they can’t leave the country for the time being. (For an understanding of the Lawyers' Movement, read The "Long March" in Pakistan Ends. U.S. plays both sides to maintain control on Axis of Logic.) 

Even now, Zardari and his cronies are in no mood to resign. They are going to wait and let the court hear their cases. One problem with the Pakistani Judiciary is the long period of time they require to adjudicate cases of corruption. It may well be that some of these cases will never be decided. The key people in Zardari’s camp who were benefiting from the NRO are not only being neck deep in corruption but also their dancing to Uncle Sam’s tunes. Interior Minister Rehman Malik is at the top of that list, with Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US, Hussain Haqqani, closely behind, followed by his wife Farhanaz Isphahani, who is the presidential spokesman. Other goons include, Pakistan ambassador to UK, Wajid Shamsul Hassan, the Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar, and two advisors to the President, Law minister, Key PPP party members and around 8000 other individuals.

The verdict of the Supreme Court should have required that all people who have been charged with corruption must not hold public office until they clear their name(s). This is something that the Supreme Court did not do. We ask why?

Apart from the Supreme Court, there is a separate Authority to work on corruption cases, which reports to the Prime Minister (Yusuf Raza Gillani), The National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The Prime Minister of Pakistan has appointed Babar Awan, minister of Law, (with a fake PhD degree) the new head of NAB. Babar Awan himself is one of the corrupt beneficiaries of NRO; he is accused of looting up to Rs 9 billion of state money. We can all imagine just how effective NAB will be.

The next step that should be taken would be to get rid of these key people from holding the important positions in government. This is of utmost importance since their removal from office would significantly reduce US intrusion into Pakistani politics.

The main opposition party, PML(N)⁴ of Nawaz Sharif, did not benefit from NRO. They are openly calling for removal of key ministers and President Zardari himself. This is not easy; Zardari as we know him will not resign until he is forced to step down just as Musharraf was forced to resign. It’s not clear who exactly the US wants as a replacement for Zardari (note their assumption that they have the right to interfere at all). Atiezaz Ahsan⁵, who is a key party member of PPP and was a key member of the lawyer’s movement, is eyeing the Presidency for himself. He does enjoy support from the US and the mainstream Pakistani media which has highlighted him as a champion of the lawyer’s movement. The real story is that he is one of those lawyers who have defended corruption cases for Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif in the past. Ahsan has represented the two most corrupt people of Pakistan in courts. This is not just hypocrisy on part of Ahsan but also the hypocrisy of British Law which sadly enough, Pakistan continues to follow.

With NRO gone, the Zardari government is at its weakest point since it took over from Musharraf in September 2008. Now all eyes will be on the next moves on the chess board. If Zardari is completely cornered as it seems he will be, he may or may not resign. But if he does resign, who will take over if not Aitezaz Ahsan? Nawaz Sharif has not been able to make any gains since he returned to the country after his self-imposed exile. Nawaz has already been Pakistani prime minister twice. Unless the 17th amendment to the constitution is repealed and a new amendment is passed, eliminating PM term limits, Nawaz is out of the picture. Nawaz also enjoys the support of the US and some within the Pakistan Army at the moment. For both power players, Nawaz is the last option. Zardari would personally like to go out with a bang. He would like to dissolve the parliament since he still has those powers from Musharraf days. But in their current mood, the Supreme Court will not allow any such folly. Once Zardari departs there is likely to be infighting between PPP members over party issues, and future role of each member. It would be no surprise if there is a split in the PPP into pro-Zardari and pro-Benazir factions.

The US would like to utilize the PPP, ANP and their allies as much as possible for a long as possible. The US Generals are now saying in public that the Pakistan Army has no desire to stage a coup. Such statements have also been seen in the past (like before the Musharraf takeover in 1999), when the Pakistan Army did in fact stage a coup when there was no alternative to stop the vicious cycle that Pakistani politicians had created. Under current conditions, it appears that military intervention is not viable, but it's obvious that the deteriorating situation is leading to the death of this rotten political system. The people of Pakistan have lost all interest and confidence in this corrupt system and the corrupt, governing lot it has produced.

The political system in Pakistan is in chaos. At the moment, these political parties and politicians have no solution for the problems of the nation. Pakistani politicians seem to be capable of nothing better than to take dictation from the US and the UK.  Time is running out for them and if they don’t soon deliver, we will not be surprised to see the people bring their own justice down upon them.

Glossary of Terms and Names 

1. The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is the ruling political party under President Zardari.
   
   
2. National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) is the brainchild of Condi Rice, Richard Boucher, and John Negroponte. The NRO brought into power the current Pakistan government under President Zardari. One of the key functions of the NRO was to "baptize" all the corrupt politicians of the past, erasing their crimes and misdeeds.
   
   
3. Chief Justice Iftikhar Choudary, was the CJ of Supreme Court of Pakistan, he was appointed by Musharraf, he stopped vital corrupt privatization deals, and recovered more than seventy missing persons who were in CIA/Pakistani intelligence prisons in Pakistan. Choudary was removed from office by Musharraf in March 2007. Some 60 Supreme Court and High Court judges, including Choudary were sacked in November 2007 when then-President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency.
   
   
4. PML (N) is the Pakistan Muslim League. Nawaz' group, currently PML is split into three groups. The three groups may come together soon. PML (Q) was also called King’s Party’ since it was formed by President Musharraf, now with Musharraf out of the scene, Q and N are likely to join hands again.
   
   
5. Aitezaz Ahsan is the former president of the Supreme Court Bar and one of the leaders of the lawyers movement. He is also a party member of the PPP.
   
   
6. Benazir Bhutto was the 12th and 18th Prime Minister of Pakistan and the only woman ever to serve as Prime Minister. She was the eldest child of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. She was assassinated on December 27, 2007. 
   
   
7. Pervez Musharraf is former dictator-turned- president of Pakistan. He was forced out of office due to the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and his loss of support by his former sponsor, the U.S. government.
   
   
8. Asif Ali Zardari is the current president of Pakistan. He is the former husband of Benazir Bhutto and came into power on her coat tails after she was assassinated. He is also the son of veteran politician Mr. Hakim Ali Zardari. Mr. Zardari is commonly known in Pakistan as "Mr. Ten Percent" due to his well-known personal cuts from various government deals. 
   
   
9. Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani is the current Prime Minister of Pakistan with Zardari as president. Both are members of the ruling political party, the PPP. He was elected as Prime Minister, unopposed.
   
   
10. Nawaz Sharif is two time former Prime Minister of Pakistan and equally as corrupt as Zardari.
    
    
11. Shahbaz Sharif is the brother of Nawaz, former Chief Minister of Punjab Province. He was CM when he was removed under in the province by Zardari and a Supreme Court ruling. 
    
    
12. General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani is a Pakistani general and the current Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army. Kayani replaced Pervez Musharraf as the leader of the army on November 29, 2007. Kayani is the former director of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and Director General of Military Operations.
    
    
13. ISI- Inter Services Intelligence is Pakistan’s top spy agency. Very close ally of CIA. ISI also knows some intimate secrets of Afghan Jihad against the Soviets, which was partnered by CIA and the Reagan administration. Recently, ISI has been told not to interfere in domestic politics by Gen. Kayani.

READ HIS BIO AND MORE REPORTS FROM INSIDE PAKISTAN
BY AXIS OF LOGIC COLUMNIST, TALHA MUJADDIDI

For more on what is happening today in Pakistan, also read the in-depth analyses of Axis of Logic Columnist, Shahid R. Siddiqi.