In our neighbouring country India, Sonia Ganhdi, an Italian by birth and widow of Rajev Gandhi, revoked her Italian citizenship to prove her loyalty to India and avoid an unnecessary controversy. It was under her leadership that the Congress party won the elections and is today ruling India in coalition with other parties.
Sonia Gandhi nominated Manmohan Singh as PM, because she did not want to give a chance to her political opposition to exploit her Italian origins. Not once has Sonia left the shores of India during the past three years that the Congress party has ruled India. In sharp contrast, Mr Zardari, husband of late Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, having assumed co-chairmanship of PPP, the leading party in the sitting coalition government, has seldom spent time in Pakistan.
He lives in Dubai, and shuttles to and from there to London, Pakistan and USA. The PM of Pakistan, against all protocol, was summoned to Dubai from Malaysia, where he was on an official trip. This summoning was publicised in the media to convey the message that it is Mr Zardari who calls the shots.
It was Zardari again who met the KSE leading brokers late in the night, when as a result of parleys, the announced imposition of CVT was withdrawn. Similarly, Mr Zardari's insistence that the judiciary led by CJ Iftikhar will not be restored, has put the whole nation in a state of uncertainty.
He cites the absence of relief given to him by the Supreme Court, during his controversial 9 year imprisonment facing charges of corruption as reasons that justify his change of mind, even after publicly signing the Murree accord. The coalition government itself is at stake along with the PPP's credibility due to the mavericks of Mr Zardari. How long will he hold the PPP hostage to his controversies?