President Pervez Musharraf has sworn in Yousef Raza Gilani as new Prime Minister of Pakistan, and it appears that the new coalition government has firmed up the factions and set a course. I’m still betting on Zardari to eventually move into the position, and will look at Gilani as the seat warmer until I see clear indicators of independence.
Over the weekend yet another charge was cleared in courts against Zardari, and there have been articles on clearing up his educational bonafides, both indicators to me that he’s still jockeying for the position or at minimum a seat in Parliament. Yet to come is election to office in a bye-election as a precursor, but we should see that soon now that parliament and national assembly are seated.
The new Prime Minister, Gilani, has said that he will not be a “yes-man” in reference to Musharraf, so the impact to US-Pakistan relations will have to be seen. In a parliamentary country where you have both a prime minister and a president things can get confusing when it comes to divvying up executive powers, so things will get interesting.