Asif Ali Zardari’s decisive victory in the Pakistan’s presidential election, despite media allegations about corruption and the state of his mental health, proves that the political leadership in Pakistan has clearly opted to hand over the reigns of power to the late Benazir Bhutto’s husband.
Zardari won by a convincing 481 out of a possible 702 votes in the electoral college made up of members of the national and provincial parliaments. The Australian notes that “only Punjab, Pakistan’s biggest province and the stronghold of his political adversary, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, held out against him, voting instead for Sharif’s preferred candidate, retired judge Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui.
“Vowing to pursue Bhutto’s philosophy and vision, he recalled her words that ‘democracy is the best revenge’ and pledged that ‘this president will be subservient to parliament’.
“Democracy is widely seen as the real winner in the weekend poll, with even Mr Sharif conceding that the fact a presidential election was held without army interference represents progress in Pakistan.
“Even the legions of disaffected Bhutto loyalists who view Mr Zardari’s ascent to the highest office of the land with dismay appear to accept it.” More here…
Another report says that the newly-elected President Asif Ali Zardari was plunged headlong into his first major crisis last night after angry Pakistani officials cut off vital supply lines serving the US-led NATO force fighting in Afghanistan. But later reports said that the supply route was being reopened following an appeal to Mr Zardari by US officials. More here…
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.