The 'master plan' to *save* Pakistan ??? - BBC News

Asif Zardari lived in Benazir Bhutto's shadow The victory of Asif Zardari, husband of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, in Pakistan's presidential election represents an extraordinary turnaround for the most mistrusted politician in the country. As her husband, Mr Zardari lived in Ms Bhutto's shadow. He proved to be a weak link in her political armour, repeatedly being charged with corruption and earning the infamous nickname, "Mr 10%". He spent eight long years in jail while Pervez Musharraf was president. He was released in 2004 as part of political haggling between General Musharraf and Ms Bhutto. Proven wrong He was thrust into the centre stage after his wife's assassination in December 2007, when he became the de facto leader of their Pakistan People's Party (PPP). The future could be guaranteed for the next generation of PPP leadership, if we play it right PPP insiderVoices: Pakistan's presidential raceQ&A: Pakistan presidential poll Many doubted his ability to lead the country's largest political party. Others simply said it marked the beginning of the end for the PPP. But thus far Mr Zardari has proven them all wrong. After the PPP's success in February's elections, Mr Zardari engineered a coalition government that included the PPP's historical rival, the PML-N of former Prime Minster Nawaz Sharif. Mr Zardari then played a Machiavellian game in which the two men worked to force President Musharraf to resign, rather than risk being impeached. Nawaz Sharif could face a long battle with Mr Zardari Mr Zardari then locked horns with Mr Sharif, refusing to fulfil pledges to restore judges sacked by Mr Musharraf or to reduce the powers of the president. In fact, Mr Zardari announced that he himself would stand for president, rather than support Mr Sharif's option of supporting a non-partisan person for the post. As a result, Mr Sharif opted to leave the coalition. Long-term battle As long as the remaining parties in the coalition stand firm, Mr Zardari looks certain to win Saturday's election. However, he could be facing a longer term all-out battle with Mr Sharif, the most popular politician in the country, that many analysts believe could eventually wipe out the PPP. Mr Zardari was nicknamed 'Mr 10%' However, some Zardari confidantes say he has a grand master plan developed by Benazir. It starts with a deal with the country's most powerful institution, the army. Mr Zardari's government will protect their interests, taking into account the army's foreign strategic concerns and making sure its share of the national budget is well stocked. The government will ensure a steady supply of aid and equipment from the US to meet the army's needs to keep up with its giant neighbour, India. In return, the army will go all out to defeat the militants in Pakistan's tribal areas and keep out of national politics, party insiders say. The PPP would be able to offer the one thing the United States most wants, all-out war on the Taleban and their al-Qaeda associates using Pakistan's full resources. For this, the PPP has made it clear to the US and the army that it needs as much power as possible, and that means having PPP people as president and prime minister. 'Future guaranteed' It also means scrapping any talk of reducing the power of the president. "It would be counter productive to our aims for the future of the party," says a confidante. Militants have grown more daring over the last two years So the obvious next question is how the PPP can use all of this to shore up its electoral strength. "The future could be guaranteed for the next generation of PPP leadership, if we play it right," says a party insider. This would be done by using the massive aid Pakistan expects to receive in return for its "good performance" in the "war on terror". The plan would be to spend most of the aid in deeply rural areas where Pakistan's closest political battles are fought - the southern Punjab, eastern North West Frontier Province and northern Sindh province. The linchpin in the plans is Mr Zardari. "If he can maintain this position and ensure the plan is carried out, Bibi [Ms Bhutto] will have won even in death," a PPP insider says. The broad outlines of the plan are simple enough. But there are reasons to be sceptical. In Pakistan, what can go wrong generally does go wrong. It wasn't that long ago that the then President Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto were working on a grand master plan that fell apart with her assassination. Mr Zardari's military hopes rest on the assumption - not universally shared - that the army can defeat the Islamist militants, and that it will co-operate with the PPP after years of mutual mistrust. As far as popular support goes, the PPP has got its work cut out to reverse the country's ever-worsening economic woes.

Un-poetic , yet my prose

In an attempt to get the creative juices flowing again, I did a freewrite this afternoon. I spent five minutes writing on a title given on allpoetry: The inconvenience of being uninspired. Whilst the freewrite itself was nothing special, I took my highlighter to a few phrases which echoed my feelings quite accurately whilst simultaneously continuing my previous writing style and giving me room to write more.I came up with a flowing prose...thing. Shocking that an experienced journaliist/writer/columnist has no idea what to call this. Anyway, I'm glad that it's the first thing in my new notebook, because I think it very accurately describes myself and the processes I'll be going through to write again.******************************************************************My thoughts are unpoetic. What runs through my head is not unique or beautiful. I am not visionary. I cannot fill these pages merely by willing the words to appear. Each rounded, looped, crossed and dotted letter is the product of a mechanical thought. That which is mechanic is forced and planned - it can never be poetic.If I were a great Romantic I would dedicate every line of this book to the muses, to Classical deities long forgotten and never believed in. I am a cynic in an age of atheism; the muses have forsaken me because I choose not to believe in them. A fair and mutual agreement I think.I am not a great Romantic. My thoughts are unpoetic. Each curl of my hair does not drip assonance and similes. My blood does not cry out in metaphor or apostrophise an absent lover. My heart does not beat in iambic pentameter, my pulse has no foot. There is no romance in my body, just as there is no poetry in my mind.Beauty cannot inspire me, yet it moves me. My soul craves melody, harmony and song. I no longer sing with my own words.I need beauty in all things, but I am not a Romantic. I am no aesthete. I am not a poet.