Well, there you have it. We all were doubting Zardari’s intentions for no reason… or were we? 
Zardari Claims He Never Opposed Chaudhry Reinstatement in the First Place | News From Antiwar.com
Zardari Claims He Never Opposed Chaudhry Reinstatement in the First Place
Celebrations Across Pakistan as Chief Justice Restored
Posted March 16, 2009
As has been the case virtually every day recently, Pakistanis were out on the streets in force today. Yet the tenor of today’s gatherings were considerably different - where the previous rallies protested the Zardari government’s crackdowns and were met with fierce police resistance, today they were celebrating across the nation the restoration of ousted Chief Justice Iftkhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
Flanked by lawyers, journalists and supporters, Chaudhry watched the speech by Prime Minister Yousef Raza Gilani announcing his restoration on GEO Tv, the owners of the popular news channel which had previously been banned by the Zardari administration for covering the pro-Chaudhry protests.
After losing his coalition government’s largest partner, arresting hundreds of opposition figures and enforcing emergency rule on over 100 million people over the Chaudhry issue, President Zardari today claimed he never really opposed Chaudhry’s restoration in the first place. Rather, he claims he was just waiting for another justice’s retirement on March 21 to announce the restoration publicly. In other words, Zardari claims he brought the nation to the brink of collapse to keep from having to restore Chaudhry a week sooner than he wanted.
Report: Military Ultimatum Forced Resolution to Pakistan Crisis
Prime Minister Gilani Was Given 24 Hours to Restore Chaudhry or Face Ouster of Zardari
Posted March 16, 2009
The reinstatement of Chief Justice Iftkhar Muhammad Chaudhry yesterday brought an end to the government’s imposition of emergency rule over much of the nation and turned massive protests into celebrations in short order. But what Pakistani officials have been trumpeting as cooler heads prevailing may in fact have been brought about by military chief General Parvez Kayani, with no small measure of support from the US and Britain.
Several papers are reporting that in the hours ahead of Chaudhry’s reinstatement, Gen. Kayani delivered a rather stern ultimatum to Prime Minister Yousef Raza Gilani: accept a deal backed by the US and British governments to reinstate Chaudhry and return the country to normalcy within 24 hours, or the military, with international backing, would oust President Asif Ali Zardari. Gen. Kayani has been averse to military meddling into civilian government affairs, but was under enormous pressure to act after Zardari began ordering troops into cities and mass arresting members of the political opposition.
While the move has been good for the opposition and good for the people of Sindh and Punjab who no longer have to live under emergency rule, the biggest winner may wind up being Gilani himself. He is now seen as having stood up to the increasingly unstable Zardari, and Chaudhry’s reinstatement may find the powers of the presidency reduced in favor of the prime minister and parliament.
