Like ever before, the American perception about the durability of the Zardari-Gilani government is presently a subject of public debate in Pakistan. Does President Zardari still enjoy the patronage of the US government, one would ask the others in the streets. To this perception there is a ring of suspicion, in that it is generally believed by the Pakistanis that President Musharraf had to step down once the Americans felt that his policies had lost public support.
Rightly then, the State Department spokesman was asked, the other day, about 'US opinion or concerns if the Zardari government were to be deemed unconstitutional and, therefore, illegitimate'. On the face of it, he stayed clear of taking sides on this debate, but there are some interesting nuances to what he said.
One, he conceded there is "an ongoing process between two branches of the Pakistani Government (but) It's not for us to get in the middle of that". Then appears an obvious tilt towards the Supreme Court judgement on the NRO, when the spokesman asserts "What is important is that the Pakistani Government and its leadership be seen as legitimate in the eyes of the Pakistani people".
Simply put, the Obama administration finds nothing wrong with the contention that the NRO beneficiaries should face the courts. However, that doesn't mean the United States government perceives the ongoing NRO dispute only as a distant thunder. Its special envoy to the region, Richard Holbrook, finds it a "tremendous political drama" that his government is watching "very carefully".
But he is not certain how it would conclude, though he did indicate in his interview, with a private US television channel that as of now, it had no effect on "our national security interests". In other words, Washington is watchful of political developments in Pakistan, because they closely impinge upon its so-called war on terror in this region.
Of course, the US government seems to have been forced to adopt a wait-and-see posture on the ongoing contentious debate presently swirling Pakistan's landscape. With Pakistan caught up in internal political squabbles, the Americans fear they wouldn't receive the kind of co-operative support envisaged for the success of the troops surge in Afghanistan, planned by the Obama administration.
But will that support be available once the NRO dispute gets settled - that is the question. Washington's apparent reluctance in taking a position on the NRO-spawned national debate is welcomed. State Department Spokesman Philip Crowly is absolutely right in accepting that if there were a negative outcome for the Zardari-Gilani government from the Supreme Court judgement on the NRO "it is really is an internal matter for Pakistan".
Surely, the Americans must have learnt a lesson from their undemocratic posture towards the Musharraf regime that had failed to muster broad public support for the war against terrorism - even when Pakistan is the most adversely affected country. No doubt, the Americans did broker the revival of a democratic process in Pakistan by facilitating the NRO deal, but with hindsight it appears that the balance of public debate is rapidly shifting in favour of those who think democracy should have returned on its own steam.
To the extent that non-interference in Pakistan's internal affairs has been pledged by the US government at the level of State Department, it is a positive signal. But there are a few other things that the US government should also clear up. For instance, there is the widely held perception that the non-state actors have been inducted into Pakistan in the name of securing American installations.
Then, there is the threat of drone operations into Balochistan, which too needs to be clarified. And, of late, reports have appeared in the western media that in the past, US conducted raids into Pakistani territory without the knowledge of Pakistani authorities. So, some degree of suspicion besets the Pak-US bilateral relationship. Unless that is removed, fully and comprehensively, the American policy and posture would remain suspect in the eyes of the Pakistani people.
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