FRACTIOUS COALITION IN PAKISTAN BREAKS APART
Jane Perlez
The New York Times, August 26, 2008
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan’s fledgling civilian government collapsed on Monday, as the leaders of the main two coalition parties turned their sights on each other, only a week after banding together to force the resignation of President Pervez Musharraf.
The coalition’s failure, after just five months of governing Pakistan, worsened the leadership crisis in this nuclear-armed nation at a time when it faces a serious threat from the growing strength of the Taliban in the northwestern parts of its territory.
Now the deepening rivalry between the party leaders — Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of the slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, and Nawaz Sharif, a former prime minister himself — will play out in the coming elections for president.
Mr. Zardari, leader of the larger Pakistan Peoples Party, decided last week to run for the office — one of several reasons Mr. Sharif, who leads the Pakistan Muslim League-N, gave for leaving the coalition and naming his own candidate. Mr. Sharif said that Mr. Zardari, relatively new to day-to-day politics though increasingly influential inside Pakistan and with Washington, had broken several promises that made it impossible for him to stay in the government.
“We have been forced to leave the coalition,” Mr. Sharif said in a news conference here in the capital. “We joined the coalition with full sincerity for the restoration of democracy. Unfortunately, all the promises were not honored.”
(...) [artículo aquí]
Jane Perlez
The New York Times, August 26, 2008
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan’s fledgling civilian government collapsed on Monday, as the leaders of the main two coalition parties turned their sights on each other, only a week after banding together to force the resignation of President Pervez Musharraf.
The coalition’s failure, after just five months of governing Pakistan, worsened the leadership crisis in this nuclear-armed nation at a time when it faces a serious threat from the growing strength of the Taliban in the northwestern parts of its territory.
Now the deepening rivalry between the party leaders — Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of the slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, and Nawaz Sharif, a former prime minister himself — will play out in the coming elections for president.
Mr. Zardari, leader of the larger Pakistan Peoples Party, decided last week to run for the office — one of several reasons Mr. Sharif, who leads the Pakistan Muslim League-N, gave for leaving the coalition and naming his own candidate. Mr. Sharif said that Mr. Zardari, relatively new to day-to-day politics though increasingly influential inside Pakistan and with Washington, had broken several promises that made it impossible for him to stay in the government.
“We have been forced to leave the coalition,” Mr. Sharif said in a news conference here in the capital. “We joined the coalition with full sincerity for the restoration of democracy. Unfortunately, all the promises were not honored.”
(...) [artículo aquí]
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