SALON

Saturday, Mar 17, 2012 10:45 AM UTC

Pakistan president boasts gains in terror war

By

Topics: From the Wires,

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s president lauded his government’s commitment to democracy and boasted of gains in the country’s war on militants in a Saturday speech to lawmakers, many of whom hurled abuse at his leadership before walking out in protest.

Asif Ali Zardari was making his fifth address as president to the joint session, something he claimed was an achievement in itself given the country’s turbulent political history. Few would have predicted the coalition government he headed would last that long when it took office in 2008.

“The world can see the march of democracy goes on,” he said. “We are creating history, while a lot more needs to be done. We Pakistanis can be proud of our young democracy.”

The government, like others before it, has barely made a dent in the economic and social problems facing the country, which relies heavily on foreign aid to survive. Mismanagement and corruption have been the hallmarks of his administration, most independent analysts say.

Even before Zardari opened his mouth, opposition leaders began hurling abuse at the government, occasionally disrupting his speech. “Stop looting!” ”Stop lying!” and “Whoever is America’s friend is a traitor!” they chanted for a quarter of an hour before leaving.

Since taking office, Pakistan has struggled to defeat Islamist militants that are based in the northwest close to the Afghan border and have significant support at various levels of society. The army has launched offensives against them, but Zardari’s government has been accused of not speaking up clearly against extremism.

“We will continue to show force against them,” he said. “I believe our efforts have born fruit.”

The country’s relations have faltered with the United States over the last year after a series of incidents that inflamed anti-U.S. sentiment among many Pakistanis. Last November, Islamabad all but severed ties after U.S. airstrikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers along the Afghan border.

On Monday, the joint session will debate whether to re-engage with Washington.

“The year 2011 was a challenging year,” he said. “We seek to engage meaningfully with the U.S. on the basis of mutual interest and mutual respect.”

The government has been widely accused of mishandling the economy, which is growing around 4 percent a year, not enough to create jobs for school graduates and far slower then neighboring India. High inflation, electricity and gas shortages have hammered the poor and middle class over the last four years.

Zardari claimed otherwise in his speech, saying exports were up and growth was picking up.

General elections are scheduled for early next year, but there has been speculation they may take place after the summer.

Zardari is also caught in a power struggle with Pakistan’s powerful military — traditionally at odds with his Pakistan People’s Party — as well as with a Supreme Court angered at his perceived flaunting of judicial authority.

But while his government may yet be forced to face new elections by the collapse of its coalition or even by a court order, a repeat of the military coups that have brought down previous troubled civilian governments as recently as the late 1990s, when then-army chief Gen. Pervez Musharraf seized power, is considered unlikely.

More Chris Brummitt.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments are not enabled for this story.

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: Chekhov's story mirrors Russia's own

Recommendations