Politics spills violently onto the streets of Pakistan

After a miserable attempt to get along over the past year, Pakistan's two largest political parties have drawn their battles lines once again. Violent political demonstrations in the streets during the past 24 hours are bad news for Pakistanis who were hoping that the two parties might get along this time. It's also bad news for America, which is watching its most important ally in the war in Afghanistan plunge into another domestic crisis.

It was long coming, but it finally started yesterday afternoon when the Supreme Court of Pakistan barred Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif from holding public office in the country. The two brothers are the leaders of the main opposition party, the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz faction). Nawaz, the elder of the two, is the most popular politician in country, according to polls. Shahbaz was serving as the chief minister and leading the Punjab, the most populous province of Pakistan.

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With the Sharifs barred from political office, supporters and party members have been flexing the party's muscle in the streets, demonstrating all over the country, especially in the Punjab. The demonstrations have been taking place for the past 24 hours, and have left a trail of burnt debris. Their anger is directed towards President Asif Zaradri.

Many people see Zaradri's hand behind the court's decision. He had been clashing with the Sharif brothers over rule in the Punjab province ever since Zaradri's Pakistan Peoples' Party government came into power one year ago.

The Sharif brothers party won most of the popular vote in their native Punjab province in the elction last year, but Zaradri appointed one of his loyalists as the governor of the province. After the court's decision, Zaradri wasted no time in naming his loyal governor as the new ruler of the Punjab.

All this would not be so important if the Punjab wasn't so important. It's Pakistan's largest province in terms of population and all the rivers that serve Pakistan run through the green plains of the region. The Punjab is also the source for most of the the staple food that ends up in Pakistani kitchens. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to control Pakistan without controlling the Punjab.

President Zaradri has suddenly acquired control over the province in the last 24 hours, but there's little doubt he's going to have to fight to keep it. The Sharif brothers are mobilizing a street movement and they are experienced at this sort of thing.

ALL IN THE COURTS:

Even though it's the struggle over Punjab that's sparked this flame, what's fueling this fire is the lingering question mark over the fate of the Supreme Court judges whom President Musharraf dismissed during the tail end of his rule in 2007.

Musharraf had disqualified the Supreme Court judges who were opposed to his military rule and appointed his own handpicked judges then. Both major political parties who are at war now used the cause of these sacked judges to win at the polls last year.

But Zaradri was able to qualify as president only after Musharraf's replacement judges waved all pending criminal cases against Zardari as part of a deal that's said to have been brokered in Washington. Zardari appears to have developed a soft spot for the judges after that.

Meanwhile, Nawaz Sharif and his party kept demanding the reinstatement of the old judges. It's convenient for him, since the old judges would probably reopen the cases against Zaradri and conceivably turn him into a criminal overnight.

The question of the judges might be answered fairly soon, as a large street movement is being planned by civil and political groups for mid-March in support of the judges. The street protest is expected to converge on the capital Islamabad on March 16. Its size will probably be used as a gauge of public support for the sacked judges' cause — and also the Sharifs' political future.

Most people in Pakistan are saying the events of the past day are a replay of the politics of the 1990s, when these same parties — the PPP was under Benazir Bhutto at the time — were constantly at each others' throats. It was this sort of consistent breakdown in the ruling system that eventually paved the way for Musharraf to enter the scene looking like a savior of democracy.

And speaking of generals, while the drama unfolded yesterday, Ashfaq Kiyani, Pakistan's army chief, was wrapping up a tour of Washington. A photo in a local news daily showed him chatting with Richard Holbrooke, President Obama's point man for the region. Gen. Kiyani was wearing a dark suit with a light blue tie with his thinning hair slicked back. He was looking almost presidential.

http://www.globalpost.com/notebook/pakistan/090226/politics-spills-violently-the-streets-pakistan