By Ardeshir Cowasjee
MOST of us commentators, indeed if not all of us, and a good many of those who are supposed to report things as they are, not as they are not, suffer from a lack of objectivity.

There are too many personal axes being ground into the mud, there are too many angles, obtuse and acute, there are too many chips on too many shoulders — and this applies not only to the writers and commentators but to the media barons themselves, many of whom are compromised by their own personal interests and leanings.

Minds need to be opened up and refreshed. We need to stop attacking, picking on old bones, and do a bit of cool analysis, criticise objectively and, if possible, constructively, point out the wrongs without forgetting the rights, and hope that someone or some persons who are in a position to act and come up with some solutions to this sorry mess are out there heeding.

What has happened to the grand reconciliation scheme? It has faltered. It has been one person and several other linked persons-specific. It has not been and is not evenhanded.

Unelected unrepresentative Asif Zardari, in his interview with the Washington Times published on May 29, reiterated several times that it is now ‘time for reconciliation’. Having had his substantial reconciliation, thanks to that unconstitutional and unlawful ordinance thrust upon the country through the machinations of Benazir Bhutto and President Pervez Musharraf in thrall to the US and its ‘national interest’, it is time that he himself applied his mind and persuaded his wilting coalition partners and his own party people to enter into the spirit of national reconciliation.

How is it that President Musharraf is omitted from this grand process? How about a bit of reconciliation where he is concerned? His sins, largely, are no greater and no less (though they may be different) than the sins of those who have so illegally and un-evenhandedly benefited from the NRO. After all, it is he who is partly responsible, in hand with his American friends, for having cleared Zardari and his friends of the many charges (some iron-clad) levied against them many years ago. Reconciliation, if it is to be with us, should apply all round — to Musharraf, to the Mian of Lahore and his party people, in fact to us all.

It is Zardari’s wife’s assassination, and only and simply that, which has shot Zardari into the position where he now finds himself — unelected, having no constitutional nexus, but almost the sole spokesperson in this flailing Republic, sought out by locals and foreigners for his words of wisdom and policy. If miracles do happen, then Zardari can certainly claim one in his case.

Now, let us return to the objectivity factor and the state of the nation. For many a year, the American journalist, a true professional, Paula Newberg, has watched and commented on Pakistan and its peculiarities, its usually nefarious and occasionally comical doings, and its infrequent ups and very frequent downs. She writes for various US and international publications and has her wits about her. The comments she comes up with are valid and should be pondered upon. Posted on the Internet newspaper The Huffington Post on May 27 was Newberg’s article ‘Pakistan’s governance imperative’. It is lengthy and comprehensive. But she says it as it is from the opening paragraph right up to the bitter end.

“After the kind of year that no country ever wants, with its government in crisis, repression replacing even the most remote notion of good government, political assassination, and terror standing in the wings, Pakistan elected a new parliament in February.” A coalition was formed of three parties “previously deemed outcasts” which quickly agreed, at least in public, on a “daunting political agenda”. Then things went into reverse gear and it stands now broken down on the various issues facing it.

As of now, “Domestic politics and foreign policy alike are fair game for ambitious politicians long removed from power.” The “long removed from power” should make us all stand back and absorb shame. What sort of a nation is it that cannot, in the long period of eight years, throw up some new faces and new minds, untainted by past doings and failings? The voters cannot be blamed, they had little choice.

The blame must be laid fairly and squarely in front of Musharraf’s boots for it was up to him to find, nurture and bring out to the fore men and women of integrity, substance and ability who could lead this county into the 21st century. For his own selfish and myopic reasons he thrust upon us some of the most discredited men in this country’s political history and introduced into the political system others who are complete rogues and vulgar vagabonds. That he had no choice but to then bring back the relics of the 1990s and throw them to the voters is thus not surprising.

So where are we now? “The recent blur of pronouncements, plans and policies reflects this history as it touches on Pakistan’s perennially sensitive topics: jumbled electoral rules, imbalances between provincial powers and central government authority, political corruptions long deemed acceptable, and a testy relationship between parliament and the president … daily life in Pakistan is increasingly punctuated by targeted, violent incidents and a prevailing insecurity that has not diminished since Musharraf’s government was defeated.” A sad commentary on all the euphoric rhetoric and pronouncements of glory to come with which we were inundated in February.

Newberg is right when she states that it is not the names of individuals which should dominate government and the headlines. It is political parties and parliament which must lead the government. Institutions are in a shambles. “Pakistan’s politics has almost always been in conflict with major state institutions … no state institution has escaped the high-handedness of party rule … the simple concepts of representation, political participation and honest constitutionalism are so eroded that Pakistan’s history is usually narrated as a contest between those who seek power and those who wield authority … the space between them … has nurtured corruptions of many sizes and shapes.”

What we need are leaders “to defy their own, and the world’s low expectations” for Pakistan’s success. For now, this or any government must demonstrate that after living for decades with coercion, the citizens of Pakistan, the grand awam, “have claims on the state that the state can and will honour”.

arfc@cyber.net.pk

By Shahid Javed Burki
FINDING the right way to bring a country out of economic, political and social backwardness and to help its people out of despair and poverty remains an enterprise that continues to engage many great minds.

Over the last 60 years or so, starting from the time when millions of people in Asia and Africa were able to cast off the yoke of colonialism and take responsibility for their lives and for their future, development experts have continued to come up with recipes that would help release nations from poverty.

Some countries, most notably those in East Asia, succeeded. Some failed and continue to fail. Most of those who are still struggling are in the region known as Sub-Saharan Africa.

Pakistan’s own record has not been dismal. Not given much of a chance of success, it has clocked a fairly impressive record of growth over the last six decades. The gross domestic product has grown, averaging at more than four per cent a year over this period. There are only a score or so countries around the globe that can claim to have sustained such a record of growth over such an extended period. During the same period, the population has increased five and a half times, from only 30m in 1947, the year of the country’s birth, to an estimated 165m, 61 years later.

The proportion of people living in absolute poverty has declined from about 60 per cent in 1947 to around 30 per cent now. The size of the urban population has increased twelve-fold, from five million at the time of independence to around 60m in 2008. The structure of the economy has changed as well. At the time of its birth, Pakistan was an agricultural economy with no industry of any significance. More than half the gross domestic product was contributed by agriculture. Now the share of agriculture in GDP has declined to a bit over 20 per cent. Instead of agriculture, the service sector — both traditional and modern — has become the largest contributor to GDP.

The trajectory of growth Pakistan has followed over the last 60 years was not smooth and even. There were at least three periods of rapid economic progress and modernisation — in the 1960s, in the 1980s and in the early 2000s. Each of these periods ended in economic and political chaos. Why was the path to relative progress such a halting one? Why has Pakistan experienced so many jerks and jolts in its economic life? These questions are not easily answered and are better left to be dealt with by historians who investigate and write about these matters.

What concerns me today is another important question: what should the policymakers do now at a time of another halt to progress, another jerk in the move forward?

The fact that Pakistan is currently faced with an extremely serious economic crisis does not need repeating. The fact that the country’s new political masters need to quickly develop an approach for dealing with the stresses and strains under which the economy is operating at this time does not need to be repeated either. But what should policymakers do to address the problems the economy faces?

Economic theory is attempting to find an answer to this question at a time where the entire world — not just a few developing countries such as Pakistan — is having to deal with a sudden turn in the wheel of fortune. One group of development experts who recently contemplated this issue was led by the Nobel Prize-winning economist Michael Spence. It recently issued its report to the public.

Spence and his colleagues argue that the Washington Consensus that became the guiding economic philosophy in the late 1980s and the 1990s is now dead. The Consensus was built on three pillars: stabilisation, privatisation and liberalisation. These are the pillars on which the economic team recruited by President Pervez Musharraf built the country’s economic structure. Prodded by the IMF, to which the Musharraf team turned in the first three years of military rule, Islamabad emphasised stability over growth, privatisation over state control and liberalisation over state management.

There were two problems with the way this structure was built, it neglected growth for the time when the economy was being stabilised and it made no attempt to develop a medium-term strategy for ensuring uninterrupted growth. It is not surprising that the structure the team built came crumbling down.

What does the Spence group advocate for a country in Pakistan’s situation. No single recipe will ensure sustainable and rapid economic growth. Each country must devise its own strategy, given its own circumstances. However, one ingredient must always be present in the strategy: an active government that strategises. Governments “are sometimes clumsy and sometimes errant but active, pragmatic governments are indispensable”, say the authors of the report. Pragmatism means dispensing with ideology and focusing on what the situation demands at any given time. This is one of the salient features of the Spence group’s report.

The other is the emphasis it places on growth itself. Without adequate growth in the economy and without sustaining it over time, improvements in human well-being are impossible. The report looks at the experience of 13 developing countries that have managed economic growth of seven per cent or more a year for at least 25 years.

Two lessons are drawn. One, fast and sustained growth “requires long-term commitment by a country’s political leaders”. Two, high and sustainable growth depends on deep engagement with the global economy. Engaging with the world requires developing an understanding of where it will end, where it is going. During the Musharraf period, Pakistan had the first but not the second. There was a singular lack of understanding about the structure and evolution of the global economy among the policymakers.

What about the role of the state that was downgraded by the Washington Consensus? Spence and colleagues argue that no country was able to achieve rapid economic growth without high rates of investment in infrastructure, education and health. They also emphasise that “growth strategies cannot succeed without a commitment to equality of opportunity”. Once again, Islamabad during the Musharraf period failed this test.

The Spence Commission’s findings come at an opportune time for Pakistan where a new political order is taking shape. As the new leadership begins to look at what the economy needs it would do well to study the findings of Spence and his colleagues and build them into a strategy for adjustment and growth that needs to be put quickly in place.

Dawn

THE SBP’s third quarterly report for the outgoing fiscal on the state of the economy does not make us any wiser. Much of what it says is already known. Yet it does underline the serious challenges facing the economy, and suggests a few measures that are crucial in terms of heading off any further economic downturn. The SBP has knocked down the GDP growth estimate to 5.5-6.0 per cent — well below the original target of 7.2 per cent — from an earlier projection of 6.5-7.0 per cent in December owing to “broad deterioration in the key macroeconomic indicators due to a combination of adverse domestic (political volatility, energy crunch, price inflation, water shortage, etc) and global developments (rising oil and food prices, global financial crisis, etc)”. For the first time in five years, the economy will grow at less than six per cent.

While domestic factors are to blame for substantially lower growth in the manufacturing and agricultural sectors, escalating global oil and food prices have skewed the fiscal balance. The budgetary gap and the current account deficit are set to rise to seven per cent and just below eight per cent of GDP respectively. Price inflation is running into double digits, adding to the economic woes of the common man, and other economic indicators have deteriorated sharply. Though the situation may look quite dismal as the current economic impasse seems to be bordering on stagflation, all is not lost. The economy isn’t going to unravel any time soon. The problem could still be salved. A policy focus, as suggested by the SBP, on regaining macroeconomic stability through corrective measures could quickly reinvigorate growth momentum. That requires the government, in the short term, to cut down unproductive expenditure and reduce its dependence on borrowings from the SBP for financing the budget, as well as to address structural weaknesses hampering the expansion of the industrial and agricultural sectors. The budget for the next financial year will be a test of the government’s commitment to addressing the increasing fiscal imbalances and reviving the economy.
Dawn

ISLAMABAD, June 2: President Pervez Musharraf has said that the country’s economic fundamentals are strong and expressed the hope the government would address the current downtrend.

Speaking at the National Defence University after presentation of a national strategy paper on governance of especially administered areas (Fata and NAs) and their impact on national security on Monday, he said that issues of economy and terrorism must not be politicised because that might harm the national interest.

The event was attended by NWFP Governor Owais Ghani, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Tariq Majeed, Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Air Chief Marshal Tanveer Mahmood.

“I hope the government moves forward politically for the salvation and putting back on track the derailed situation. It is doable and achievable,” the president added.

He pointed out that billions of rupees had been lost during the recent slump of stock exchange and the exchange rate after staying stagnant for the past eight years to around Rs60 had touched Rs70 per dollar. “The country loses Rs28 billion with the increase of single rupee.”

He said: “If correct and bold measures are taken then all issues confronting us are solvable — whether political or economical, including energy, water and food”.

The president said that the three-pronged strategy of addressing military, political and socio-economic aspects was the way forward for addressing the situation in tribal areas.

“Military is certainly and is never the solution as it only creates an environment, the solution is always through political measures,” he added.

He said that apart from the peace deal done two years back, the current deals had been done from a position of strength, particularly in Swat and South Waziristan.

He said that an important aspect would be to ensure that there was no linkage with Al Qaeda or foreign elements and there must not be cross-border activities.

He said that there should be no politics in dealing with terrorism and the tribal region should be brought to the mainstream by providing socio-economic development to the area.

The president said he would not agree that the problems facing Afghanistan could be resolved with the withdrawal of coalition forces. “I don’t think so,” he said, adding that it could destabilise Afghanistan and also Pakistan.

Also on Monday, during a meeting with a US delegation, the president said that stable and broad-based relationships between Pakistan and United States were in the interest of the two countries and also vital for lasting peace in the region.

Dawn

By Shafiq Khan
Thursday, 29 May 2008.
WWW.AHMEDQURAISHI.COM

ONTARIO, Canada—In last 100 days, after 18th February elections, the leaders of Nawaz League, Peoples Party, lawyers, judges, civil society, ex-servicemen and leaders of the parties who didn’t take part in the general elections, like Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Imran Khan have literally taken the country to a bankruptcy and height of frustration.

Top of that, American leaders, press & media, Congressmen, Senators, Think Tanks, NGOs and other civil organizations in the United States have played with the Pakistani politics like a prostitute. There is not a day, when some a****** from the United States lands in Islamabad uninvited, struts around on the streets of Pakistan as if he’s in a nightclub, meets government, opposition leaders, personalities of their choice and freely woof and yap like a rabid dog and flies back to Washington.

The interesting part of all this is, the same Nawaz leaders, lawyers, civil society, ex-servicemen, the same Hamid Mir, Geo, Jang, anti-Musharraf commentators and analysts, who curse the United States day and night for supporting President Musharraf, now publicize and quote their statements just because now these are against President Musharraf. World knows that the United States has only one agenda for Pakistan, “to destroy Pakistan as soon as possible by a bloodbath through a civil war”.
The limit is that Pakistan has been hostage through the hands of lawyers, retired and deposed Judges and wasted interests in the country for the last 15 months (after 9th March 2007) and President Musharraf did everything opposition demanded from him but they come out with one point or the other. It is 110% correct that every single one of the people mentioned above is practicing the hypocritical politics of personal agendas, personal vendettas and selfish goals.

The most hypocritical, mean, selfish and ugly politics are being practiced by Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif. While Nawaz Sharif has put the country at stake because of his animosity with President Musharraf, Mr. Zardari is avenging the dead bodies of Z.A Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto. Plus, he has no interest whatsoever in Pakistan as he has pocketed hundreds of millions of dollars and cleared all of his criminal cases through the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).

Yusuf Raza Gilani is a ‘Yes-Sir’ prime minister. He is worse than Rafiq Tarar and Phajja Chaudhry. He did nothing in last three months except raise hands for prayers, perform inauguration ceremonies and act as a “Statement Issuing Machine”. The real power sits with Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif.The country is not only in confusion, turmoil and uncertainty but is quickly heading towards poverty, hunger, lawlessness and disintegration.

The point is, if everyone is working to cut Presidential powers but is saying nothing about the prime ministerial powers, since they want the Prime Minister o be a ‘jackass’ and Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari would hold the all the prime ministerial powers by remote control. Question is: In case of both these fail, who would bring the balance when the President is castrated and Army is not taking part in politics? The ultimate result would be that people on the streets would rule their neighborhoods by looting, robbing, burning people alive, killing and ambushing others.

The bottom line, if the destiny of this country is Martial Law, “why to bring it when nothing is left, why not today”? President Musharraf may not hold the office of the Chief of the Army Staff, but he is still the Supreme Commander of the Arm forces. The entire 3 forces are under his control. To hell with 52-B,C.D,E,F,G,H…Use Martial Law and save the country!

IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO DO A GOOD THING MR. PRESIDENT!

Mirza Aslam Baig
Is A fired Cartridge

Politics for retired and old farts in Pakistan is a hobby, entertainment and passing time in a Recreation Club. Issuing statements in newspapers, taking part in talk shows on TV channels, attending conferences and meeting dinners everyday for these retired bureaucrats and generals is a pleasure occasion. These people are passing their leisurely time that way.

Mirza Aslam Baig is just one of the members of that RETARDED CLUB called the Ex-Servicemen Association. While on duty for over 30 years, that OLD FART did not do a single thing to be remembered and just served for his pay checks. These retired a******s are yapping regarding President Musharraf’s exit for the last 15 months but nothing happened. Everyday, these old farts along with a bunch of journalists like Nazir Naji, Sethi, Hamid Mir, Qasmi and many more come out with a new lie on TVs and newspapers but on the same old pattern. The Chief Minister of Punjab Khosa, a political ‘puppy’, came out with a new idea that President Musharraf’s name should be put on the Exit Control List. I cannot believe how a couple of hundred thousand people in Pakistan are behaving but I wouldn’t be surprised if they meet their end one by one taking the dream of President Musharraf’s resignation in their chests.

ONLY THE STATE ARMY
COULD PROTECT THE
INTEGRITY OF PAKISTAN

The naïve and innocent people of Pakistan are helplessly watching crooks and thugs of politics, press, media and judiciary twisting facts and realities of political game for their personal designs.
Asif Zardari, an ordinary man of Sindh won two lotteries in his life, first when Benazir Bhutto came in his life and second when Benazir Bhutto went out of his life.

People close to Asif Zardari would verify my statement that before marrying Benazir Bhutto, Asif Zardari’s life was confined to wine and women and chased wealth his whole life. He was an average, mediocre punk from Sindh and part of a bunch of people who gather together every night for drinking and debauchery. Asif has no education, no training and no grooming of being a political leader, statesman, patriotic Pakistani with nationalistic approach etcetera. If my statement is not correct, why Benazir Bhutto kept him away out of her political career and family life for most of her married life specially, last 10 years? Asif was just a MAN in Benazir’s life and nothing more.

Peoples Party leaders basically come from opportunist agriculturists, industrialists, student leaders, Bus Adda men, Ghunda Tax Collectors and people from mediocrity who rose from earth to sky just because common masses are easily to fool. If Z.A Bhutto was a sincere leader and had there been honesty in his leadership and intentions, he would not have been thrown out after 5 years of his rule.

My statement could be honestly judged and tested that, “if Bhuttos were sincere, they would have been a real political force in Pakistan instead of following each other to the grave one by one.What Asif Zardari and Peoples Party men call “four sacrifices” in fact was the revenge of the ‘Mother Nature’ which took away everything from Bhuttos. No matter how hard Peoples Party claim and try to make world understand that all FOURS were killed by conspiracies and are martyred but if they were honest, they would be living to serve the people gracefully. I mean, “this is not a time of Prophet Muhammad or Khulfa-i-Rashdeen that God wanted to take some religious work from Bhuttos through shooting on the road (Murtaza Bhutto), hanging in a murder case (Z.A Bhutto) and an accidental car lever hit (Benazir Bhutto)!

I am a firm believer that Asif Zardari’s jugglery would not last longer and the Mother Nature would strike soon. I don’t know what is agreed between Mr. Altaf Hussain of MQM and Asif Ali Zardari but I can foresee Asif fooling many people on many times. Calling MQM backed Sindh Governor to Manzoor Watto’s gathering in Punjab is nothing but to avert the risk of any mishap while Ishrat-ul-Ibad is present. Coalition in Sindh with MQM is again just a piece of pie to the people who could risk the entire pie for the Peoples Party. Mr. Altaf Hussain must keep in mind that Asif Zardari has many enemies and does not want to fight with all of them ( President Musharraf, Army, Intelligence Agencies, Establishment, MQM, Sindhi Nationalists, Sindhi population, Nawaz Sharif, poverty, hunger, sky rocketing prices, Stocks etc.) by opening many fronts. His strategy is to fight one at a time.

One day MQM’s turn will come on Asif’s list, if he survives many of his opponents!
Asif must me a happy camper with the disguised support by the press and media. But remember, the hypocrites and crooks always need an opposition group to play their roles. What will happen when Musharraf is gone. Today, no one remembers Shaukat Aziz. Same way, one day, might be after months and years, when Musharraf is gone, the same cannons of Geo and Jang would be pointed at Asif Ali Zardari (not at Nawaz Sharif because of ethnic reasons, unfortunately).
LAST WORD
In the above game of ‘Hide & Seek’, the main role is of Uncle Sam. He is closely watching to wind up the table.

I warn wasted interests: you might survive Musharraf, Army or the Establishment but when the White Elephant would be loose, Pakistan might lose its frontiers and the destiny of 160 million people would be ocean of bloods.

HUSSAIN HAQQANI’S
APPOINTMENT

When Asif Zardari can marry Benazir and in a snap hijack the Peoples Party and declare himself a co-chairman, then nothing is wrong in Husain Haqqani becoming our ambassador to the U.S. This all is a part of U.S. game. Everyone is in the line of a slaughterhouse. It depends, who is next?

Few points to remember:

1. Musharraf could use 52-B.
2. An absolute Martial Law could come in the next few months. I wish, at least 50,000 are killed.
3. Some well known leader/personality could be killed to derail the system or as a Trump Card.
4. That jerk Iftikhar Chaudhry would die with the wish in his heart to be Chief Justice again.
5. If I was President Musharraf, 100 days were enough to test the present government where they have done nothing and I would have kicked it out.
6. This is God’s wrath on Pakistan that the nation is trapped in the middle of an ocean of problems.
7. America is well on target to bring bloodshed and civil war in Pakistan.
8. Asif Zardari is posing himself as the most intelligent person in Pakistan. But he is not.

9. Why do people forget a TRUTH of Mother Nature where it makes the best judgment? Look for a second on Z.A. Bhutto, Indira Gandhi, Shaikh Mujib-ur-Rehman who literally lost their patriarchs and were left with leftover women.
10. Asif, Nawazoo, you are not smarter than Bhuttos, Indiras and Mujeebs. If they lost everything, you are simply a pawn of chess and whatever wealth you have collected of Bhuttos, you would not be able to use.

Mr. Khan is a Pakistani commentator based in Canada. The views expressed here are his own. He can be reached at shafiqkhansindhi@gmail.com

By our correspondent
29 May 2008
ISLAMABAD — Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said he likes President Pervez Musharraf because he is supporter of democracy and is straight and candid.

“(Musharraf) supports democracy. He is very frank (and) straightforward,” Gilani said in an interview with a private TV channel. He, however, said among leaders, he liked Asif Zardari most because of his political insight and facile style. Gilani agreed with President Musharraf’s statement in his memoirs, In the Line of Fire, that governing Pakistan was the most difficult job in the world.

Asked about his opinion on Musharraf’s policies, Gilani said he approved of many of those that conformed to the manifesto of the PPP. He said the PPP supported him on issues such as the Women’s Protection Bill and women’s representation in assemblies.

Gilani said he had changed the previous policy on the war on terror by focusing on finding the root causes instead of on the use of force. He said the filing of a reference against Iftikhar Chaudhry cast a negative impact on his political goodwill.

By James Rupert and Khalid Qayum
May 30 (Bloomberg) — Pakistan’s three-way power struggle between President Pervez Musharraf and the largest political parties has slowed the response to food shortages and spiraling inflation, triggering the biggest stock plunge in eight years.

“Musharraf has to go,” Farhatullah Babar, spokesman for the Pakistan Peoples Party, the main group in the coalition government, said in a phone interview today. “It is his choice whether he wants to go in a dignified manner, or wishes to be impeached.”

Musharraf denied a report he would resign in a television appearance last night, blaming the speculation on “a malicious campaign to create uncertainty.” The dispute threatens to hamper efforts to combat terrorism and improve living standards for the nation’s 163 million people, half of whom can no longer afford sufficient food, according to the United Nations.

“If this remains unaddressed, it could lead to real instability in coming months,” said Talat Masood, a retired general who works as an independent consultant in Islamabad.

The Bush administration has called Musharraf its key ally in the battle against Pakistan-based militants of al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The U.S. has encouraged Pakistan’s main parties, led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, ousted in a 1999 coup by Musharraf, and Asif Ali Zardari, to keep him in office even after their victory in parliamentary elections in February.

Rudderless Government

Pakistan’s key stock index has tumbled 23 percent this month, the biggest decline among 89 global benchmarks tracked by Bloomberg. Brokerage officials flew to Islamabad this week to urge the coalition to take action to restore confidence and about 100 investors and brokers gathered outside the Karachi Stock Exchange yesterday, shouting anti-government slogans.

The sense of rudderless government has put the Karachi Stock Exchange 100 index on course for its biggest monthly decline since May 2000. The central bank stepped in on May 23, raising its benchmark interest rate to tame inflation at a 25- year high.

“There is the perception that nobody is actually in command to address the real issues and take the country forward,” said Habib-ur-Rehman, chief executive of Atlas Asset Management Co. in Karachi.

The equity benchmark dropped as much as 2.6 percent to a nine-month low this morning before recovering. The index gained 1.4 percent to 12,401.53 at 2:45 p.m. as some investors judged the recent decline as excessive and brokers ended their protest outside the exchange.

Economy Blossomed

Pakistan’s economy has blossomed during Musharraf’s years in office, reaching an average annual growth rate of 7.5 percent over the past four years. Foreign investment reached a record $8.4 billion in the year ended June 30.

The government predicts growth will slow to 6 percent this fiscal year, after 14 months of political turmoil since Musharraf’s attempt to sideline the chief justice in March 2007.

International rating companies — Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s Investors Service — downgraded Pakistan’s government bonds for the first time in nine years. “Investors’ confidence has declined and capital flight has started,” said Rehman, who manages the equivalent of $80 million in stocks and bonds.

Musharraf resigned in November from his most powerful post, commanding general of the army. His chosen successor, Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, has pulled the army back from politics, withdrawing officers from civilian government posts and ordering them to avoid involvement with politicians.

Speculation that Musharraf would resign arose yesterday after an English-language daily, the News, suggested that Kayani had pushed Musharraf to quit during a meeting the previous night. Musharraf denied yesterday that any divisions had arisen between himself and Kayani.

Clinging On

Musharraf’s attempts to cling on to power were bolstered this month when the governing coalition started to unravel because of a dispute over judges. The president had sacked the justices last November because they were preparing legal challenges to his tenure.

Zardari’s Pakistan Peoples Party last week proposed a constitutional amendment to strip Musharraf’s most important remaining powers, the ability to dissolve parliament and appoint military service chiefs.

Support from Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League would ensure the two-thirds majority required to pass the amendment in the National Assembly. The debate would then move to the Senate where he’d need defections among Musharraf loyalists to make it law.

Term Limits

The Muslim League, which withdrew its cabinet ministers on March 13 because of the judicial dispute, will meet today to discuss Zardari’s proposals. A key sticking point may be conditions that would weaken the restored judges, including a term limit for the chief justice.

Zardari, whose wife Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in December, spent eight years in prison under Sharif and Musharraf on what he says were politically motivated corruption charges. Musharraf canceled further prosecution against Zardari last year as part of negotiations that persuaded the then PPP leader Bhutto to return to Pakistan where she was killed after an election rally.

Sharif opposes restrictions on restored judges because his party won votes in February by promising unconditional reinstatement. The party feels it will lose support in future elections if it backs away now, said Muhammad Mehdi, a Muslim League coordinator on foreign affairs.

The two parties seem closer to agreement on the president’s future. Zardari last week joined Sharif’s call for Musharraf to step down, calling him “a relic of the past.”

“If he resigns voluntarily, it is good for everyone,” said Babar of the Peoples Party. Otherwise, “he will be kicked out.”

– Editors: Bill Austin, Stephen Foxwell

To contact the reporter on this story: James Rupert in Islamabad at jrupert3@bloomberg.net.

By Khalid Hasan

WASHINGTON: In a show of solidarity with President Musharraf, whom he has described in the past as his “tight” friend, US President George Bush assured his Pakistani counterpart that he looks forward to working with him in his (Musharraf’s) “continuing role in further strengthening US Pakistani relations.”

According to White House spokesperson Dana Perino, “He (President Bush) did this morning have a call with President Musharraf of Pakistan. This was a follow up to the meeting he had in Sharm el Sheikh with Prime Minister Gilani. The President reiterated the United States’ strong support for Pakistan, and he indicated he looks forward to President Musharraf’s continuing role in further strengthening US-Pakistani relations.”

She said while reiterating the points President Bush had made in his meeting with Prime Minister Gilani in Egypt, Bush also “emphasised in his telephone call to President Musharraf that ‘It’s important for all in authority in Pakistan to work with each other to benefit the Pakistani people.’ ”

The phone call from Washington should lay to rest speculation in some quarters in Pakistan and elsewhere that the US had decided to “dump” the Pakistani leader.

LAHORE: Pakistan’s armed forces still consider President Pervez Musharraf their supreme commander, as well as the legal and constitutional president of the country, Geo news quoted sources within the Pakistan Army as saying. The channel’s senior anchor and analyst Kamran Khan quoted these sources as saying that the recent rumours of Musharraf’s resignation were completely baseless. He reported that the United States administration, including its envoy Anne W Patterson, had been very active during the last 24 hours with regards to the political situation in Pakistan. He said the US wanted the present government to respect the agreements reached between President Musharraf and the PPP before the general elections. He revealed that the Saudi government had also forwarded messages to the political leadership in the last 24 hours. daily times monitor