What Mr Zardari needs to do

At an erudite and lively debate on TV, the present political situation in the country was discussed. One participant felt that Mr Zardari had done zyadati with Mian Nawaz Sharif, and that he should go to the latter's house and apologise separately for each break of promise. The next participant said it is no use going to merely apologise; in such a situation one has to take something with him. When the question arose as what he could take along, it was felt that he should 'take the judges with him', meaning of course that he should restore the judges in the manner promised. The participants agreed that a coalition including the PPP and PML-N would have better chances of controlling the terrible situation in the country than one with MQM and PML-Q because Punjab - the biggest province - should also be on board, and that is the domain of the PML-N. In this connection the role of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer came under scrutiny; he had ostensibly been given the task of ousting the PML-N set-up in the province, and this was not on. If the PPP continued on this path, the situation of 1988 would be repeated, democracy would be weakened, and bonapartism again encouraged.

However, it was agreed that at present, and under General Ashfaq Kayani, there was little chance of this and that for two reasons. Firstly, the army is very much on the defensive because of the excesses heaped on the country by their own chief during the last nine years, so much so that they do not move around in public in their uniforms. Secondly, the army is inextricably mired in the tribal areas and Swat, and they cannot even think of taking on the administration of the country as well.