Source: Friday Times:
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President Asif Zardari is hogging the news. And most of it is bad news, for himself and the country. The Lahore High Court is hearing petitions against him on two counts. One petition prays that he should be stripped of one of the two hats that he wears: PPP Co-Chair and President of Pakistan. The other one claims he is in contempt of court for continuing to politicise the Presidency, which violates a controversial judgment of the Supreme Court in the Asghar Khan-ISI case that says the Presidency is supposed to be neutral, apolitical and bipartisan.
Therefore Mr Zardari will have to decide which hat to retain. If he steps down as PPP Co-Chair, he will face problems galvanizing the PPP into election mode. The PPP Chairman, Bilawal Bhutto, is too young and inexperienced for such a role and there is no effective second-in-command to do the job. If Mr Zardari quits the Presidency, he will lose the presidential immunity from prosecution at home and abroad and face great difficulties.