Islamabad, December 08: With mounting pressure from the opposition and the media on the Pakistani president, chances are that Asif Ali Zardari may step down and give his job to Premier Yousuf Gilani, in order to later take his place as premier.
According to Pakistan’s Foreign Policy magazine in its latest issue, “Zardari could ‘pull a Putin’, whereby he cedes power to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and then, as head of his party, makes a play to have himself elected to that post (as prime minister).”
However, the sources that have talked over the issue on condition of anonymity, suggested that it is too early to predict how successful such a move might be.
There has also been reporting that the military is readying a move against Zardari based on the perception that he is complicit in compromising Pakistani sovereignty by moving too close to the US.
This is while the perception that the military has either the will or the intent to topple Zardari is not shared by the US state department. Many believe that although Zardari’s position is weakened, he would continue to hold on to his position, at least for the time being.
“Zardari is a very shrewd person in that sense and I think he is going to make a deal in order to stay in power, but he probably has to give up something,” said Barmak Pazhwak, program officer at the United States Institute of Peace.
–Agencies