The Pakistan Policy Blog

• New Prime Minister: Yousaf Raza Gillani Pakistan was elected as Pakistan’s next prime minister by a wide margin in the National Assembly.  He will be sworn in tomorrow.  Gillani announced that his government will ask for a United Nations investigation into the late Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, order the release of the deposed judges, and implement the Murree Accord signed by the People’s Party and Muslim League-Nawaz.  Sitting in the gallery was Bilawal Zardari, on break from university,  who visibly wept as Gillani spoke of his late mother, Benazir Bhutto.
• Divvying the Goodies: While Pakistan has a new prime minister, it does not have a functioning cabinet.  Negotiations between the PPP and PML-N have been complicated.
  • One reason is what appears to be the entry of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) into the governing coalition.   While the PPP and MQM have been long-time rivals, the PML-N is less willing to work with the MQM, which it sees as a perpetrator of violence.
  • Additionally, the PPP and PML-N conflict over some of the more visible portfolios.  The PPP seems unwilling to touch the finance minister position, giving the economic uncertainty, while the PML-N is keen on the position of foreign affairs minister.
• Boucher and Negroponte to Visit Pakistan Tomorrow: Both Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher will be visiting Pakistan tomorrow.  They will meet with not only Prime Minister Gillani, Chief of Army Staff Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, and President Pervez Musharraf, but also with Muslim League-Nawaz leader Nawaz Sharif.  This will probably be Negroponte’s first meeting with Sharif and, from my recollection, it will be the highest ranking U.S. government official Sharif will have met in recent years.  Washington managed to maintain an asinine position of alienating and antagonizing Sharif, at least since the fall, and is now coming to terms with his extreme importance to the political context in Pakistan.
• Being Judged on the Judges: Tomorrow evening, the deposed judges will be free.  Pressure to push for their restoration by parliament will renew.  A week has passed since parliament first convened.  That means the body has 23 days left to act on the Murree Accord’s pledge to bring back the judges with a parliament resolution.
• Military Re-Shuffling:
  • Corps Commanders:
    • Lahore:
      • Out: Lieutenant General Shafaat Ullah Shah (re-assigned as Chief of Logistic Staff (CLS) at the General Headquarters);
      • In: Lieutenant General Ijaz Ahmed Bakhshi;
    • Mangla:
      • Out: Lieutenant General Sajjad Akram (new assignment: deputy chairman, Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority;
      • In: Lieutenant General Nadeem Ahmed;
  • General Headquarters:
    • In: Major General Mukhtar Ahmed, removed as director general of the National Accountability Bureau (now director general, GHQ) ;
    • In: Lieutenant General Shujaat Zamir Dar.

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