Chowrangi

President Pervez Musharraf is on a face-saving tour, yet again. During his travel to Belgium, France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, he will try to show his resolve in fighting terrorism and talk up investment opportunities. However, it is easier said than done as the shadow of troubles back home looms over his portfolio. While he so fondly recites the list of “achievements”, he say nothing about, nor intend to take questions on, the crisis going in Pakistan.

He boasts so much about the free press which is actually under strict regulations now. He allowed GEO, one of leading news channels in Pakistan, to come back online few hours before he departed for the tour. GEO was banned in Pakistan when emergency was proclaimed on November 03, 2007.

Without any apparent plans to tackle the flour crisis, load-shedding, exponential hike in commodity prices, on-going suicide bombings and a visibly shaking economy, President Pervez Musharraf is trying to secure more funds for the war-on-terror and to prove that he is still the best-available ally for the West in this part of the world.

According to Newyork Times:

The pillars of Mr. Musharraf’s strength as a ruler over the past eight years — national stability and security, with an army capable of withstanding the insurgency, and a flourishing economy — are being severely challenged, his supporters and critics say. Suicide bombers have struck three of Pakistan’s major cities — Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar — killing dozens of people in the past 10 days.

In a public opinion poll by Gallup Pakistan this month, 68 percent of some 1,300 respondents who were asked in random, face-to-face interviews whether Mr. Musharraf should resign or stay said they thought he should go.

Image: AFP

Other posts by Kashif Aziz

• Joint Statement of PCA and Zombie_KSA - November 30th, 2008
• ISI Chief summoned to India - November 28th, 2008
• Mumbai Terror Attack Goes On - November 27th, 2008
• Mumbai Under Terrorist Attack - November 27th, 2008
• IDEAS 2008: Arms for Peace and Money for the Military - November 25th, 2008
• Urgently Wanted : Federal Ministers - November 19th, 2008
• GEO TV Transmission blocked in Karachi? - November 17th, 2008
• American meat exporters using fradulent halal certificates - November 14th, 2008
• The case of Khanani and Kalia - November 10th, 2008
• Alcohol Exports Bring $220 Million To Pakistan - November 9th, 2008

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