Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani appeared to be on a "suicidal warpath", said a daily, noting that his "raving and ranting will not hide (the) selfishness from the people who have already seen through the charade being enacted before them".
An editorial in the News International Wednesday said that the capacity for clear, cool-headed thinking within the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) appears to be disappearing faster than ever.
"The prime minister remains on what appears to be a suicidal warpath, pitching himself against other institutions and apparently readying himself to take on the role of a martyr who - in the realm of make-believe the PPP now occupies - can save democracy and battle all that it has decided is evil," it added.
The editorial said that continuing the aggressive tone in his much anticipated address to the National Assembly, Gilani had declared that neither the judiciary nor the army could derail democracy.
"What he didn't mention amidst the display of high emotion is the role his own government has played in subverting the working of democracy by failing to abide by court orders and follow the dictates of the constitution," it said.
The editorial went on to say that the crisis the ruling party now faces has been brought about by itself.
"Much now depends on what answer Gilani offers to the court when he appears before it."
The Supreme Court Monday issued a contempt notice to Gilani for not implementing its directive to act against Zardari, who had been granted amnesty under the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) in cases of corruption. The NRO, issued in 2007 by then president Pervez Musharraf to facilitate the return of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and her husband Zardari, had been struck down as void by the Supreme Court in 2009.
"Right now, the PPP government has chosen to walk down the path of confrontation and clearly has motives of its own for doing so. The disaster this can lead the country to is clearly of no consequence to it as it engages in a series of dangerous games - to save some of those who face peril under the NRO case.
"The PM's ranting and raving will not hide this selfishness from the people who have already seen through the charade being enacted before them," the editorial added.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}