After much delay, on Saturday 22nd March, the PPP finally announced its chosen candidate for the role of the Prime Minister, Yusuf Raza Gillani. As expected, he was seamlessly voted in as Prime Minister on Monday 24th March, before being officially sworn into office the following day.
Internal Wrangling
After nearly a month of internal wrangling and political aspirations spilling over from numerous contenders all keen to savour the opportunity for the coveted 'top job', it was Gillani, who according to many analysts was a 'back runner', who emerged as the victor. Gillani, has been a 'careful choice' if analysts are to be believed. With speculation rampant that the PPP would nominate a 'stop-gap' prime minister and Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, who now leads the party, would take over the post after entering parliament via a by-election, the 'temp' PM would have to be someone willing to 'play ball'. A senior PPP member, a longtime aide of former PM Benazir Bhutto and a party loyalist, Gilani, told reporters that he would serve in office "as long as his party wants him to," and be willing to accept strong direction from the party leadership thereby leaving the future of the post open to such discourse. According to the BBC, ''Many believe he would be willing to quietly step aside if Ms Bhutto's widower Asif Zardari becomes an MP and therefore eligible to become prime minister''. A retired general and prominent policy analyst, Talat Masood, noted to the AP news agency that the new PM would be "easier to dislodge" than other prime minister candidates who were considered for the position (including the party's president Makhdoom Amin Fahim).
US Interference Continues Unabated
Whilst to the innocent bystanders the customs and formalities of the last few days may have ushered in a long awaited sigh of relief welcoming the return of 'democracy' to Pakistan, the internal 'goings-on' are a clear reminder, if not representative of exactly what type of 'democracy' is in store for the people of Pakistan as each person vies for the coveted lions share of the spoils of war i.e. the posts of the Premier and the cabinet. Notwithstanding this, the real 'democracy in Pakistan' was elaborately epitomized in earnest as US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher arrived in Pakistan early Tuesday, the very same day that the new PM, Yusuf Raza Gillani, was sworn in. Commentators were clear in stating that the timing clearly implies that the US was trying to influence the policies of Pakistan's new government. Zaffar Abbas, an editor with Pakistani newspaper Dawn, said the arrival of the US delegation on the day the new prime minister had been sworn in suggested they were "trying to dictate terms." President Bush has already phoned the new PM Gilani and invited him to Washington "at his convenience," and Gilani's office quoted the Premier as saying, "Pakistan would continue to fight terrorism." US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher held talks with Nawaz Sharif, who heads the PPP's coalition partner, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), with Pervez Musharraf, General Ashfaq Kayani and the head of the ISI. The US is clear, it expects Pakistan's new government to continue a crackdown on the so-called 'Islamist militants' along the country's border with Afghanistan.
Pervez Musharraf
Last but not least, with the US firmly ensuring its agenda remains at the forefront of any government, it has in President Musharraf its ailing proxy. The US and UK ensured that the demands for Musharraf to go were dropped early.
Ardent as ever to retain the powers to potentially annul any parliament, he has been quoted as intending on remaining as president for the remainder of his five year tenure to further ensure the legacy and path that he has placed Pakistan upon during his last 8 years of dictatorship continue unabated-namely ensuring US hegemony over Pakistani politics and interests.
Sham Democracies
The above reflects the real plight for the ordinary citizen of Pakistan. The interests and needs of the people of Pakistan are 'secondary' if at all on the agenda of any of the above, as has become abundantly clear. Furthermore, Pakistan is not alone in this type of betrayal and treachery. This 'cocktail of democracy' is the same currently being served to the people of occupied Iraq under Nouri Maliki, that has been served in occupied Afghanistan under Hamid Karzai and is in store for the peoples of Iran and else where in the Muslin world. It is the type of western, colonial interference in the affairs of the Muslims that makes Egypt support Israel's blockade of Gaza and the undermining of the elected Hamas government. It is a continuation of the interference and betrayal that weakened the Ottoman Caliphate by sowing the seeds of division along nationalistic lines, which paved the way for the invasion and division of the Muslims lands after the first world war. The Islamic Khilafah Ruling System: The True and Only Real Alternative Governance to Represent the Interests of its Citizens.
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