Zardari-Kayani relations sour

The relation between Pakistan’s president Asif Ali Zardari and the army chief general Ashfaq Pervez Kayani is rapidly going downhill over foreign policy issues.

According to sources in the diplomatic circles, the current equation between two power centres in the country is akin to that of 1999, which led to the dislodging of the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif by the army chief Pervez Musharraf.

The media too have been abuzz with speculation over the issue for sometime now.

“The recent rejection of the Kerry-Lugar Bill by the army was part of a long-term plan to unseat Zardari and bring in someone more compliant, or at the very least force the president to sack some of his advisers,’ according to senior Pakistani writer and analyst Ahmad Rashid.

Rashid believes that Zardari’s views on foreign policy are diametrically opposed to that of the army. He wants peace with India, closer ties to the US and an end to the safe havens the Afghan Taliban have in Pakistan. But the military top brass thinks differently on these issues.

Zardari’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar, however, denied any mistrust between the president and the military establishment. “The reports about the mistrust are not correct,” he said, adding that the security establishment accepts the supremacy of the civilian government and the parliament.

Interestingly, it has been confirmed that Zardari wants to appoint a chief of the army staff of his choice in October next year, which, under the present circumstances, seems to be a remote possibility.