PPP remains tempest tossed

Posted on 12 January 2012.

PPP remains tempest tossed. Image via Wikipedia

The Khaki storm clears, or was never there. The PPP tempest remains on the horizon.The issues between the government and the military seems to to have passed. The media is looking at itself to see what went wrong. The Senate elections have been announced. Neither the Army chief, nor the ISI Chief have been dismissed. The Secretary of Defense was fired for saying “the army and the ISI is not in the control of the Ministry of Defense”.

Mr. Majeed Nizami clearly said that there is no chance of Martial Law. Mr. Dasti of the PPP has taken back his resignation. Mr. Zahid Khan of the ANP announced that the PPP will announce the elections this year.

The National Assembly session has been delayed because of the death of Pir Pagara and one other member of parliament. The PMLN may not resign from parliament.

Mr. Kamran Khan said that he doesn’t really buy the PPP line that the elections will happen in 2012.

Mr. Naji also said that there will be elections next year. Mr. Burney said that the six options say that that the Chairman, the PM and the President are in hot soup.

The domestic situation in Pakistan is oblivious of American machinations in Afghanistan. The NATO supplies remain suspended. Guessing that the supplies will remain closed for a long time the intelligence agencies have begun to use the drones again. This will further exacerbate the situation and may prolong the suspension of NATO supplies. As the war winds down in Afghanistan, “The Americans have stayed in their bases for the last few months.” The US has been unable to build peace with the Talibs despite major announcements of opening offices in Qatar etc.

Islamabad clearly has options. It sees its interests aligned with Russia, China and the Central Asian republics. It doesn’t see the US alliance in its long term interests, or even in its long term interests. Mr. Tom Hussain in the National says.

Pakistan is also part of an emerging strategic partnership with major Asian powers, none of which want US influence to expand in their backyard, and all of which suspect it is using Afghanistan as a staging post for covert operations. That perception was boosted in December when Iranian security forces hacked a passing CIA drone and landed it undamaged.
At a conference of regional powers in Istanbul in November, Pakistan worked with China, Russia and Iran to block a US proposal for an international Afghan border monitoring mechanism. Instead, the emergent bloc backed the Iranian position of a “regional solution to a regional crisis” – a poignant reminder that the installation of the Karzai administration in 2002 was made possible by the joint efforts of several influential governments, including Iran.

The Afghan cannot be brought to a successful conclusion without the help of Pakistan. The US continues to stubbornly decline to offer an apology and continues to blame Pakistan for the defeat of American generals in the Hindu Kush. These actions are not conducive to US interests in West an Central Asia.