Welcome home Prime Minister now **** off.

Quite...

Tried to make conversation with one of my Pakistani customers yesterday, by mentioning the debacle (so he knew I was current affair aware).

Well, he launched into a massive tirade against the corruption in Pakistan, so much so, the security officer came to stand beside my desk, thinking he was abusing me about the benefits system.

Feelings run high.

Never mind, the Saudi's will look after him.

x

thanks for the reply. I like replies. Most of my topics dont get any :wink:

Pakistan seems to be a cauldron of corruption religious extremism and militarism...with nuclear weapons. If Osama bin Laden gets his hands on nuclear weapons it will be courtesy of Pakistan.

As a fellow Londoner, I feel compelled to apologise to any Pakistani visitors (and a2k regulars) for Steve 41oo's obvious prejudice

Sorry about that (and not all Brits see it this way)

There's only one thing that drives prejudice and that is fear
If you are afraid of the nuclear bomb - you know what to do

HELP BAN IT FROM THE PLANET

(You could start by joining CND)

Pak's crisis
"But present events suggest that a prolonged period of political turbulence is getting under way. The rivals for power, the incumbent president, Pervez Musharraf, and Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, the previous prime ministers and leaders of the two main political parties, who when in power ruled as quasi dictators themselves, seem intent on a bruising battle that is bound to slow an economy that is now, more than any other single thing, making Pakistanis feel they have a better future.

The only way to head off a showdown that will rock the country to its foundations is to allow free elections. However, Musharraf's dilemna is that he knows he cannot win an election unless he can form an alliance with either Bhutto or Sharif. And if he forms an alliance with one the other will cry "foul" and will attempt to mobilize confrontational street protests. Given the feudal line up behind Bhutto and Sharif this will split the country on geographical lines, which is hardly the way to improve political stability or to attract foreign investors. It will also boost the fortunes of the religious militants.

All three of them have a responsibility to the wider good. However events play out they all have a duty to keep the temperature down and to avoid taking the country to the brink.Resolving Pakistan's grave political crisis
http://www.transnational.org/Columns_Power/2007/34.Pakistan.html

Re: Pak's crisis


Solution: (for the people who are lost in the paradox) support the country goddamnit, not Musharaf, Bhutto, or sharif

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If you choose to see only that side of it....




We have so many, that we don't mind giving some to this fake character....

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ps. thanks Endy

"There's only one thing that drives prejudice and that is fear"

The pot should not call the kettle black
"This struggle was said to have marked the beginning of a fresh chapter in Pakistan's democracy, and was certainly instrumental in forcing the Army to compromise with civilian power. The moment Benazir Bhutto was offered the scent of office, she joined the Army in trampling over an order of the Supreme Court permitting Nawaz Sharif to return home.

The Benazir argument, echoed by her parrots, that Mr Sharif should stay away because of some verbal agreement made seven years ago, is specious and untenable. A Supreme Court's decision supersedes any private agreement that is disputed by one party and, in any event, has no basis in law. Nawaz Sharif returned to Pakistan with the specific permission of the Supreme Court. The Pakistan People's Party has just dug a future grave by treating the Supreme Court so contemptuously.

President Pervez Musharraf is proving to be a far better tactician with politicians than his commitment to an Army uniform might suggest. Ms Benazir Bhutto is not even back in Pakistan and her credibility has already been eroded. General Musharraf has many disadvantages after more than seven years in power, but he does have one serious advantage in terms of public perception. No one has accused him of being individually corrupt. He is unlikely to surrender that advantage by withdrawing corruption cases against either Benazir Bhutto or Nawaz Sharif. He might bend under pressure from his mentors in Washington, but one doubts if he will stoop so far. Ms Bhutto will not be deported when she returns to Pakistan in late October, since Washington insists upon some cosmetic changes in the power structure of Islamabad. But that is not quite the same thing as re-gilding the lady in honest hues.

Now that Benazir Bhutto's People's Party has become the King's Party, Nawaz Sharif will inherit the popular space along with those smaller parties who see merit in his continued confrontation with Army rule. The most vocal of the latter is surely the former cricketer Imran Khan, who commands the attention of the media and makes effective public interventions. Imran Khan possesses the virtue of clarity. He told President Musharraf fairly bluntly that it was about time he woke up. "If you think that by sending Mr Nawaz Sharif to Saudi Arabia you can save your skin, you better stop fooling yourself. Neither can America save you, nor Benazir, and not even the PML(Q) turncoats… God willing, the entire Pakistani nation will rise against you and we will fight you in the streets."

One can see a new political compass drawing fresh arcs: Benazir Bhutto, pro-Musharraf elements in Nawaz Sharif's party and America are placed in one group; Nawaz Sharif and friends are now the legitimate opposition. It may be too early to claim that the entire Pakistani nation has joined this opposition. But presumably God, whose will Imran Khan has invoked, will soon let us know ?- through events on the Pakistani street rather than deals in the Islamabad secretariat.

http://www.asianage.com/presentation/leftnavigation/opinion/opinion/a-joke-too-far.aspx

Troublesome threesome
„The stakes are high. After eight years of military dictatorship, Pakistan is spoiling for another round of democratic experiments. The battle is on for a new protagonist and a new cast of characters. Who will rule Pakistan and in what manner? Basically, the questions everybody wants answered are: Is Musharraf going? If he goes, who comes in? Meanwhile, what happens to Pakistan's flock of Islamist terrorists and nuclear weapons?
Musharraf cannot rule the country without ruling over its most powerful institution, the army. "Without his uniform, Musharraf is dead meat," say western diplomats with experience of Pakistan.
. The army is a one-boss outfit and there is no room for a civilian centre of power.

Musharraf, however, needs to have a bigger gameplan than merely staying in power. The next dates to watch out for on the Pakistani calendar are October 15 when the presidential vote by lawmakers has to be held, and November 15 when Musharraf's current five-year presidential term as well as assembly term expire. A lot of political bloodletting is expected by then. „

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Troublesome_threesome/articleshow/2373050.cms

well thank you for apologising endy. Do you think Pakistan will unilaterally renounce nuclear weapons? (Having struggled so hard courtesy of A Q Khan's thieving from Urensco to get the bomb in the first place). I'll join CND immediately after Osama bin Laden, deal? And just what planet are you on btw?

You apologise for me and I'll apologise for you being a complete prat. Mate.

Meanwhile in that crackpot country Pakistan....