Split in Pakistani coalition dashes hopes of many
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistanis are shocked by the splitof a six-week-old coalition government on which they had pinnedhopes for stability and change, and fear another bout ofpolitical polarisation and turbulence.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who heads the secondbiggest party in the coalition, announced on Monday his memberswere quitting the cabinet after failing to reach agreement withthe party of slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on therestoration of judges fired by President Pervez Musharraf.
The two parties defeated former army chief Musharraf'sallies in a February election and their alliance had raisedhopes for a stable civilian government in a country ruled bygenerals for more than half its history since its independencein 1947.
"I voted in the hope that something good will happen but Idon't see that," said Nighat Anis, a teacher at a school on theoutskirts of the capital, Islamabad. "I'm very upset, reallyvery upset. Sometimes I think I should leave the country."
The nine members of Sharif's party in the government,including Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, handed in theirresignations on Tuesday but Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilanideclined to accept them.
Gilani wanted to wait for the return of his party leader,Asif Ali Zardari, an aide said. Zardari, widower Benazir Bhuttoand leader of her party since her assassination, was due backfrom Britain late on Tuesday.
The fate of the judges has monopolised the attention of thecoalition partners since the election, to the cost, criticssay, of action on surging inflation, a slumping currency andstocks and the fight against militancy.
The rupee has fallen 10 percent this year as the brewingpolitical crisis has undermined a currency under pressure froma surging oil import bill and fiscal deficit.
Nuclear-armed Pakistan's Western allies in the campaignagainst terrorism dread more instability in a country plaguedby turbulence since March last year when Musharraf tried todismiss the country's top judge, touching off protests.
As part of his efforts to secure another term as president,Musharraf fired about 60 judges seen as hostile to him inNovember, after he imposed a brief state of emergency.
"POLITICS OF VENDETTA"
Sharif, the prime minister Musharraf ousted when he seizedpower in 1999, had made the restoration of the judges his maincondition for joining a coalition with Bhutto's party.
But the restoration of the judges is likely to spark ashowdown with Musharraf and the two leaders failed to agree onhow it should be done.
While pulling his party out of the coalition after adeadline for the return of the judges passed, Sharif promisednot to destabilise it and to support it on an issue-by-issuebasis.
Despite that, the split has stoked fears of turmoil.
"Pakistan could ... be going back to a polarisation it hasknown in the past," the Daily Times said in an editorial. "Wecould be entering another round of politics of vendetta."
A law student in Karachi, Zain Korai, said the wholecountry was depressed.
"For the first time in our history we felt that change forthe better was happening in politics. But I'm sorry to say,nothing has changed."
Zardari has said he would not appoint new minsters to theportfolios vacated by Sharif's party, except for the financepost, and would try to persuade Sharif back into the fold.
The split in the coalition, analysts say, would be welcomedby U.S. ally Musharraf who has been isolated since February'spolls.
It would also reinforce a perception that Zardari was inleague with the unpopular Musharraf, analysts say.
Like Musharraf, Zardari is reluctant to see the return ofsome of the purged judges, particularly former chief justiceIftikhar Chaudhry, who accepted legal challenges to an amnestyMusharraf granted Zardari, Bhutto and others against graftcases.
(Additional reporting by Aftab Borka; Editing by RobertBirsel and David Fogarty)
(For a Reuters blog about Pakistan please seehttp://blogs.reuters.com/pakistan)