Reports indicate that things are (again) getting a bit dicey in Pakistan. That shouldn't be much of a surprise to anyone. After all, the country is ranked 10th on the Failed States Index, behind Guinea, the Central African Republic, and Afghanistan. Of course, the difference is that unlike the nations ahead of it, Pakistan reportedly has a few weapons of mass destruction lying around (OK, not literally). Regardless, McClatchy details the latest developments in "Who's in Charge in Nuclear-Armed U.S. Ally Pakistan?":
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan, a country that's critical to the U.S.-led war on terrorism, Friday appeared to be sliding toward a judicial coup, in which judges are moving to oust top officials in the civilian government, but without putting the military, or anyone else, in charge.
Courts summoned dozens of senior members of the ruling political party and were on the verge of issuing an arrest warrant for Interior Minister Rehman Malik as they followed up a landmark Supreme Court decision this week that nullified a legal amnesty that had shielded politicians from long-standing corruption charges.
The U.S. relies on Pakistan for transit of most supplies NATO forces in Afghanistan and has pressed the government to crack down on al Qaida and Afghan militants who have sanctuary in the lawless border region, but top U.S. officials are playing down the crisis as an internal matter for Pakistan.
Just who's running this nuclear-armed country of 165 million — the independent judiciary or another arm of the state — is unclear. The government, led by President Asif Ali Zardari, appeared paralyzed, and a creeping change in command seemed to be under way.
"It's complete (judicial) control now," said Asma Jahangir, the chair of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, an independent watchdog. "The issue is whether the (democratic) system is going to pack up again (and go away)." She asked why the judiciary was "again" letting itself be used by "the establishment?"
Jahangir, a U.N. special human rights envoy, said the judiciary wouldn't have acted so boldly unless it felt confident of backing.
The army, which has dominated the country for most of its existence, is Pakistan's traditional power center, but it's strongly denied that it will interfere in politics again since democracy was restored last year. The U.S. has also said repeatedly that the Pakistani military is staying out of politics.
"It seems to me that Zardari's administration has lost its moral authority to govern. Power is slipping away," said Najam Sethi, an analyst and newspaper editor. "People are looking instead towards the chief justice . . . . The military is pretending to be out of it, but the military will have a very decisive say in everything."
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