Musharraf Under Threat as Parties Seal Pact on Joint Government

Pakistan's two largest political parties — which won last month's national elections — sealed a power-sharing deal yesterday, raising doubts about President Musharraf's political future.

The accord between Asif Ali Zardari, the de facto leader of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and widower of the murdered former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, and the Pakistan Muslim League (N) led by Nawaz Sharif, another former Prime Minister, cleared the way for the formation of an anti-Musharraf government.

“We feel that the country is on the verge of making history,” said Mr Zardari. “This was also the desire of Benazir Bhutto and we also intend to stick to the road to democracy; we are aware of the problems that the country is facing.”

Mr Sharif said that his party would be part of a federal coalition led by the PPP, which is expected to name its prime ministerial candidate this week. The PPP has won 120 seats in the new 342-seat National Assembly, and the Muslim League 90, bringing them close to the two-thirds majority required to strip Mr Musharraf of his powers to dismiss Parliament. The Assembly is expected to meet in ten days' time.

On Saturday Mr Musharraf urged his opponents to put politics aside and concentrate on forming a “stable government and peace in society”.

Mr Zardari said that he had nothing personal against the President but Mr Sharif suggested that he had no future once the new government was formed. “I do not think we have recognised Musharraf's existence; we consider him an unconstitutional and illegal president and would not like our sacrifices that we made during the last eight years to go down the drain,” said Mr Sharif, who was ousted by Mr Musharraf in a military coup in 1999.

Much could depend on who will emerge as the country's new prime minister. The delay in naming the candidates partly reflects the power vacuum left after the assassination in late December of Ms Bhutto. Her husband and son have taken over as co-heads of the PPP but questions remain about whether anyone without her influence and charisma can keep the party united and growing in strength.

This is the will of the people. The people have said they do not want Musharraf i power. And its not like he was democratically elected. The problem is the devil you know versus the devil you don't. In Musharraf, the U.S. has a partner who at least pay lip service to anti-terrorism.

So lets take a look at the "new" players. Nawaz Sharif, former Prime Minister, is responsible for Pakistan's nuclear tests, dissolved the national assembly, met with Bin Laden and offered him money to topple the PPP. He also proposed a law to create an Islamic order in Pakistan and establish a legal system based on the Quran and the Sunnat. However, he did sign a treaty with India, taken steps to normalize relations between the two countries.

Asif Ali Zardari, the husband of Benazir Bhutto, on the other hand, is just a greedy corrupt politician. From wikipedia:

In 1990, Zardari was arrested on charges of blackmail, based on allegations that he attached a bomb to a Pakistani businessman, Murtaza Bukhari, and forced him to withdraw money from his bank account.[1] However, the charges were dropped when he was released from prison in 1993 when his wife's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) took power and forced the charges out.

Zardari was made the Environment Minister during Bhutto's tenure.

As Minister, he was accused of taking millions of Rs. from local Pakistani banks for forestation of Pakistan.

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He has been given the nickname "Mr. Ten Percent" by the media and other Pakistani figures because of the alleged 10% extortion he forced on people during the PPP governments.

He was kept in custody from 1997 to 2004 on charges ranging from corruption to murder. He was granted bail and released in November 2004 when a judge said the cases were all false, although allegations of pressure on the judge have also been made. However, he was re-arrested on 21 December 2004 after his failure to attend a hearing in a murder trial in Karachi.

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In August 2004, Zardari finally admitted owning a £4.35m estate in Surrey, England (including a 20-room mansion and two farms on 365 acres, or 1.5 km², of land), which the Pakistani authorities allege was bought with the proceeds of corruption. He and his family had long denied ownership of such property in the United Kingdom. Legal proceedings brought by the Government of Pakistan against Zardari to recover the sale proceeds of the property are continuing before the High Court of Justice of England and Wales. In October 2006, the court dismissed Zardari's application to halt the proceedings on the basis that it did not have jurisdiction to hear the case. As of late 2007, Zardari is seeking permission to appeal that decision.

Zardari has spent a total of 11 years in prison. He says that the charges are politically motivated. Throughout this time, Zardari's lawyer has been Farooq H. Naek who has played a major role in his release.

A Swiss investigating magistrate has amassed enough evidence, including the purchase of a diamond necklace, to indict Pakistan's former Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto and husband on money-laundering charges tied to contracts with two Geneva-based companies. The magistrate, Daniel Devaud, decided not to bring the charges against Ms. Bhutto in Switzerland, but rather to ask Pakistani authorities to indict her. The Geneva magistrate has been conducting a wide-ranging inquiry seeking to account for more than $13.7 million frozen by Swiss authorities in 2006.

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After eight years in exile in Dubai and London, He and Benazir returned to Karachi on 18 October 2007, to prepare for the 2008 general election.

So these will be our partners in peace...makes me feel all warm and fuzzy!!!