August 8th, 2008 by Amanda

As Pakistan’s PML-N and PPP parties have finally agreed on what to do with President Pervez Musharraf, the country is simultaneously being thrust into deeper instability and insecurity on multiple levels.

Seen as a widely popular measure due to overwhelming public distaste for Musharraf’s policies, the parties moved to impeach the President on Wednesday, and as Blake Hounshell at FP Passport points out, the US government “isn’t sticking its neck out” to help its former friend.

But Musharraf isn’t going down without throwing a few punches according to Juan Cole at Informed Comment, who reports that the President has declared that he is fighting the articles of his impeachment. Cole wagers that now “the stage is set for a major political crisis in the second most populous Muslim country in the world, the sixth largest country in the world, and the only Muslim nuclear power.”

Pakistan’s problems certainly don’t end with Pervez. Amid a “hell-bound” economy, “paralyzed” government, and escalating violence in the north-west, The Economist delicately posits that Pakistan”has more to worry about than Musharraf”. Daveed Gartenstein-Ross and Bill Roggio at The Weekly Standard might agree.

They argue that as Pakistan continues to destablize, Taliban and Al-Quaeda groups are gaining strength in neighboring Afghanistan, noting that “insurgents in Afghanistan will continue to use the situation in Pakistan to their advantage.” Fighting in the northwestern region continues unabated.

Posted in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Taliban, al-Qaeda |