Pakistain's powerful military pledged on Friday to continue supporting democracy, reiterating it was not planning a takeover as tensions grew over a controversial memo alleging an army plot to seize power.They usually say that just before the tanks roll...
At the same time, President Asif Ali
President Ten PercentZardari's
... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ...
office said Zardari had no intention of leaving the country over the scandal, which has raised tensions and undermined the already deeply unpopular president.
An army statement quoted military chief General Ashfaq Kayani
... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI...
as telling troops the military will continue to support democracy in Pakistain and that any talk the army was planning to take over was "speculation".
Many Paks wonder whether Zardari can survive the crisis, and speculation has been growing the powerful generals will try to oust him somehow.
The tension is a worrying sign for the region and for Pakistain's uneasy relationship with its key ally, the United States.
The United States wants political stability in Pakistain so that Islamabad can help fight militancy and aid Western efforts to stabilise Afghanistan.
Zardari, known for his resilience in the face of pressure, has no intention of leaving, a senior member of his ruling party said.
"The current information is there is no such plan. He is very much here," the official, Shazia Marri, told Rooters.
"It's all speculation, and such speculation has proven baseless in the past as well," Marri said.
Pakistain's top judge earlier moved to allay fears of a possible military coup as tensions rose.
"There is no question of a takeover. Gone are the days when people used to get validation for unconstitutional steps from the courts," Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry said.
The Supreme Court is looking into a petition demanding an inquiry into what has become known as "memogate". Kayani, arguably the most powerful man in the country, has called for an investigation into who may have been behind the memo.
"Spectre Haunts Pakistain"
Newspaper editorials on Friday highlighted unease in the nuclear-armed South Asian nation, predicting a showdown between Zardari and his allies and the military, which is so influential it has been described as a state within a state.
"A spectre is haunting Pakistain -- the spectre of a clash between the army and the government that threatens to turn fatal," said an editorial in the News.
Businessman Mansoor Ijaz, writing in a column in the Financial Times on Oct. 10, said a senior Pak diplomat had asked that a memo be delivered to the Pentagon with a plea for US help to stave off a military coup in the days after the raid that killed al Qaeda leader the late Osama bin Laden
... who walked in the Valley of the Shadow of Death and didn't make it out...
in May.
Ijaz later identified the diplomat as Pakistain's ambassador to Washington, Husain Haqqani, a Zardari ally who denied involvement but resigned over the controversy.
The military faced unprecedented public criticism over the bin Laden affair, widely seen as a violation of illusory sovereignty.
But many Paks rallied around the army after a Nov. 26 air attack by US forces in Afghanistan mistakenly killed 24 Pak soldiers on the border. The memo has also helped boost the army's image at the expense of the government.
Zardari's government has become increasingly unpopular since he took office in 2008. It has failed to tackle myriad problems, from crippling power cuts to suicide kabooms and a struggling economy.
The army is fed up with Zardari and wants him out of office, although through legal means and without a repeat of the coups that are a hallmark of the country's 64 years of independence, military sources told Rooters on Thursday.
Tempers Flare
Another military source said tensions must be defused.
"Tempers are flaring; there is no doubt about that. However,
the hip bone's connected to the leg bone...
there are efforts to pacify the situation as well. And I hope they work, as under the current scenario, it is fast becoming a recipe for a head-on collision," he told Rooters on Friday.
Dawn, one of the country's most respected newspapers, said it would be premature to assert that an "extra-constitutional" removal of the government was in the works, but it noted the army has seized power before.
Friction between Pakistain's civilian government and military have bedevilled the nation for almost its entire existence, with the military ruling for more than half its 64-year history.
The army remains the arbiter of power and analysts say it has plenty of ways to pressure Zardari to step down, especially if a link is established between him and the memo, which sought the Pentagon's help in averting a feared coup.
In the past the army has asked Pak civilian leaders to resign and influenced judicial proceedings against them.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ...
told parliament that any institution acting as a "state within a state" was unacceptable, a clear reference to the military.
Zardari returned to Pakistain this week from medical treatment in Dubai that raised speculation he would resign under pressure from the military.
Although his position is largely ceremonial, he wields considerable influence as leader of the ruling party and his forced departure would be a humiliation for the civilian leadership and could throw the country into turmoil.
Zardari is the widower of former premier Benazir Bhutto
... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in...
, who spent years opposing military rule before she was assassinated in 2007.
Pakistain's next parliamentary elections are not due until 2013, although some opposition parties have been calling for early polls. Presidents are elected by politicians.