Asif Ali Zardari, so it seems, has regained a backbone and responsiveness to public opinion this week. He’s publicly spoken out against Pervez Musharraf, terming him a barrier to democracy. Zardari also spoke of the immense popular pressure on him to oust the dubiously elected president. Meanwhile, Musharraf’s office said today that it will no longer hold backchannel talks with Zardari.

The present situation is unlikely to last into next week, when Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte will come to Islamabad. The house should be set in order by then.

Negroponte has been highly critical of Pakistan’s talks with militants in the tribal areas and North-West Frontier Province. But he will also probably patch things between Zardari and Musharraf and press for an 18th amendment consistant with what his administration sees as U.S. national interests.

The public image of Zardari-Musharraf tensions is misleading.   Indeed, Husain Haqqani–a long-time critic of Musharraf, Zardari’s senior strategic advisor, and the new ambassador to Washington–met with the Pakistani president today.

So what’s more probable is that both sides are toughening their bargaining positions in the final stages of drafting the 18th amendment.  Zardari is also keen on reversing the public image of him as being too close to Musharraf.  But it will be difficult for his efforts to have much of an impact as they are late and will, most probably, be reversed soon.