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Pakistan’s Political Rift May Pose Test for Obama
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| Contributor | ArmyDem |
| Last Edited | ArmyDem Feb 28, 2009 08:58am |
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| Category | News |
| Media | Newspaper - New York Times |
| News Date | Friday, February 27, 2009 02:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | By JANE PERLEZ
Published: February 27, 2009
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The intensifying political battle between the pro-American president and the main opposition leader is shaping up as a potential crisis for the Obama administration as it tries to focus the government on fighting the Qaeda and Taliban insurgency here.
The domestic struggle will almost certainly deflect attention from that fight as President Asif Ali Zardari and his archrival, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, duke it out and as street protests persist, politicians and analysts said.
It could also result in shifting political alliances, including new opportunities for the religious right that would be inimical to Washington’s interests, and even serve to make the Pakistani military restive for power again if the situation continued to worsen, they said.
The crisis was set off by a Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday that bars Mr. Sharif, and his brother, Shahbaz, from elected office. The decision was widely interpreted in Pakistan as a raw political maneuver engineered by Mr. Zardari to diminish the power of the two popular opposition figures.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani described the ruling as damaging to democracy. A daily newspaper published by a major supporter of Mr. Zardari’s said the resulting political battle could be so debilitating that nuclear-armed Pakistan could end up in the ranks of failed nations alongside Somalia and Zimbabwe. |
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