Politicians let us down again?

Is a military coup round the corner in Pakistan? As speculation of another military takeover grows, the media in Pakistan has warned the country's politicians to slam on the brakes now and resolve their differences and put an end to the crisis.

Arising out of the confrontation between the two mainstream parties, President Zardari's PPP and Nawaz Sharif's PML-N, the warning comes amid media reports that the army chief General Ashfaq Kayani has warned President Zardari to clean up the mess and that too by a deadline, March 16. On that day, lawyers and supporters of Nawaz Sharif are planning a long march calling for the reinstatement of those judges who had been sacked by Musharraf, something Zardari has been reluctant to do.

Pakistan's The Daily Times said in its editorial, "Now that the two mainstream parties have virtually declared the doors of reconciliation shut, commentators are already talking of the possibility of the army stepping in "to bring the country back to normal". We sincerely hope this doesn't happen. The army is incapable of providing any political solutions as we have learnt from our bitter experience time and again. But if this does come to pass, this time too the politicians would be to blame" Meanwhile, the Dawn's editorial said, "Hurtling as this country is towards the brink of political chaos, there is still time for the politicians to slam on the brakes and reverse course. If not stopped immediately, the chain of events triggered by the ouster of the Sharif brothers from electoral politics and the imposition of governor's rule in Punjab will surely end in tears for everyone involved."

And The News said, "All this is despicable. There are no other words to describe what we are seeing. Politicians have once more let down people in a terrible fashion. The tall talk of national unity in the face of crisis has proven to be nothing more than a lie. Are we really to believe our leaders are oblivious of the fact that their country faces extreme peril?"