Editor's Note: Talha Mujaddidi*, Axis of Logic columnist and correspondent in Pakistan has been keeping us up to date on the rapid changes taking place among the Zardari regime, the army and the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. These issues are of utmost importance, especially in the context of Obama's covert and aggressive military campaign in Pakistan and Afghanistan. For those who are unfamiliar with some of the organisations and people involved, a glossery of terms and names is provided below. Look for Talha's report on "The Long March" - next.

- Les Blough, Editor

March 14th, 2009

The political deadlock in Pakistan is still going on at the moment. Government is arresting political workers, but no major opposition leaders have been arrested. After an intense round of discussions between various players, namely Prime Minister Gillani, President Zardari, Army Chief Kayani, U.S ambassador to Pakistan Ann Patterson, Richard Holbrooke, and Hillary Clinton, calling in from U.S, the government has announced a plan to diffuse the tensions. This came after some pressure from the Army Chief and Gillani on Zardari. But there are many loopholes in this latest offer from Zardari’s camp office.

To begin with Zardari has said that this offer will become functional after the long march is over. The offer calls for a constitutional package that will look into the matter of restoration of deposed judges. The package will work on a document that was signed by many political parties including PPP and PMLn when President Musharraf was in power and when all these parties were in opposition. The document is known as ‘Charter of Democracy’ (CoD). CoD calls for removal of all judges that took oath when Musharraf took over government in 1999. This would mean that current deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Choudary would not be able to be reinstated and remain Chief Justice, since he accepted Musharraf as an army ruler to begin with. This is a very complex issue and there are lots of legal complexities, so I don’t think that the lawyer’s movement will agree to this at least not in its current form and entirety.

The governor rule from Punjab has to be lifted and provincial government must be restored. The governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer, who is very close buddy of Zardari will not let go of his powers very easily, especially if Shahbaz’s provincial government is restored. There are also rumors that Gillani has asked Zardari to remove Taseer from his post as governor of Punjab but I am sure that Zardari will not agree to that. The government offer also calls for a review petition to be filed in the Pakistan Supreme Court that will review case of Shahbaz Sharif and his brother Nawaz’s ineligibility from holding public office. The problem with this is that Nawaz and his party does not accept the current Supreme Court judges as the legitimate judges. Hence if they agree to this they will lose political credibility amongst people. As I am writing this piece Shahbaz Sharif is on TV and he is saying that “I don’t believe anything that Zardari says, we don’t accept the current judges”. He has also said that we will not back down from the long march.

Some section of media and some political analyst are optimistic that this deal will work since it is backed by U.S administration and Gen. Kayani. This is a power game at the end of the day; this is typical politics of Pakistani politicians. Zardari and Nawaz will keep fighting until either one has absolute power or both are out of power. Admiral Mullen said in his interview that he admires Gen. Kayani for his role in not interfering in politics directly and he thinks that this turmoil should be resolved peacefully and without military intervention. Hillary Clinton also phoned Shahbaz/Nawaz, President, and Prime Minister. There is pressure from U.S to solve the issues quickly. U.S rightly fears that patience of Gen. Kayani will run out eventually.

Well right now it’s almost 11pm on Saturday night, and reports are that some opposition workers and leaders have managed to reach areas around Islamabad, the capital. Just one day left before the long march. I don’t think that long march will be stopped now; it will go on in any form, whether strong or weak. Next two or three days will either clear up the mess or make it worse. The good thing from all this mess is that so far all this has been non-violent and we hope that it stays this way. According to latest report from George Friedman of Statfor, there is a possibility that there might be assassination attempt on Nawaz. If this happens then major violence will unleash all across Pakistan. But everything that Statfor says can’t be taken seriously.

Glossary of Terms and Names

1. National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) is the brainchild of Condi Rice, Richard Boucher, and John Negroponte. The NRO brought the current Pakistan government under President Zardari into power. One of the key functions of the NRO was to "baptized" all the corrupt politicians of the past, erasing their crimes and misdeeds.
   
   
2. The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is the ruling political party under President Zardari.
   
   
3. Benazir Bhutto 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.
   
4. 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.
   
5. 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 cuts on various government deals.
   
6. 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.
   
7. Nawaz Sharif is two time former Prime Minister of Pakistan and equally as corrupt as Zardari.
   
8. Shahbaz Sharif is the brother of Nawaz, former Chief Minister of Punjab Province, and was CM still when he was removed under Governor rule in the province by Zardari and Supreme Court ruling.
   
9. Chief Justice Iftikhar Choudary, was the CJ of Supreme Court of Pakistan, he was appointed by Musharraf, he stop vital corrupt privatization deals, and recovered more than seventy missing person who were in CIA/Pakistani intelligence prisons in Pakistan. Choudary was removed from office by Musharraf in March 2007.
   
10. ISI- Inter Services Intelligence is Pakistan’s top spy agency. Very close ally of CIA. Also knows some intimate secrets of Afghan Jihad against Soviet, which was partnered by CIA and Regan administration. Recently ISI has been told not to interfere in domestic politics by Gen. Kayani.
    
11. Salman Taseer, playboy former corrupt business tycoon, owner of different companies and a fake degree from a U.K college in Accounting. One of his wives is an Indian National, of Sikh origin and she writes in Indian Express Newspaper. Taseer is seen as a sellout to India by the public.
    
12. PML (N) is the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz group, currently PML is split into three groups. The three groups can 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.

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