World View

Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari succumbed to the pressure of the 'long march' organised by lawyers and opposition parties. He gave his official assent to reinstate Chief Justice Iftikhar Choudhry along with others who were sacked during the rule of president Pervez Musharraf. The other news that dominated this week was the decision of American International Group (AIG), one of Wall Street's largest recipient of bailout money, to declare bonuses to its employees - a move which was highly criticised. We present here excerpts of editorials and comments from the regional and the international press.

It was a relief to most Pakistan observers that the long march which threatened the stability of the country ended peacefully.

The confrontation between the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party and the opposition parties, especially the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the lawyers ended before the marchers could even reach Islamabad, the capital of the country where they were supposed to stage a sit-in till their demand for the reinstatement of the sacked Chief Justice Iftikhar Choudhry was met.

But the political stand-off doused when Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani announced that the sacked supreme court judges would be reinstated by the end of this month.

The government has also lifted its ban on rallies, and the opposition leader Nawaz Sharif later called off the 'long march' to Islamabad.

Heaving a sigh of relief, The News, a daily from Pakistan said "As the tension dissipates and the barricades are removed, the nation has a sense of drawing back from the brink.

"The long march got turned into a street party and everybody went home quietly satisfied that 'the right thing' had been done by all concerned. We now have to live with the consequences of the compromise which, never forget, is not a done deal until the chief justice [retired] has left his office and been replaced by the chief justice [restored or reinstated] - so let's not count our chickens before they are hatched."

Another daily from Pakistan, Dawn, stated that the politicians must seize this moment before another issue bubbles up and they go at it hammer and tongs.

"If we are ever to get out of the rut of instability, the rules governing the system must be reset. Now is the chance. Allow it to slip by, and the country is guaranteed to suffer again," it added.

The Times of India hailed the decision as a victory for constitutionality in Pakistan.

"While their reinstatement together with the ending of the ban on rallies and release of arrested opposition activists will help restore a measure of stability in Pakistan, they will leave President Asif Zardari seriously weakened," it stated.

Commenting that the need for the hour in Pakistan is stability, Saudi Arabia's Arab News touched on the challenges the country is facing from Al Qaida-inspired violence and the rising economic troubles.

"Unfortunately, what Pakistan's political leaders have never seemed to grasp is that the role of a parliamentary opposition is not to try to bring down the elected government at any and every opportunity, but rather to act as a check on a government's exercise of power by challenging key policies and monitoring performance," it remarked.

The New York Times asked how Chief Justice Choudhry will use his influence and his restored powers. "Zardari supposedly opposed his return out of fear that the jurist would revive a corruption charge against him.

"We hope Chaudhry opts to advance the cause of impartial justice, not political retribution. Pakistan's leaders have walked the country back from the brink. They must go much further before it reaches solid ground."

In the financial world, there was a moral outrage after AIG announced bonuses to its most culpable employees.

The outrage was over the fact that most of these employees were responsible for bankruptcy of the company and was bailed out by the US government.

The Christian Science Monitor said it would be best if those AIG traders did return the bonuses, knowing now their jobs were rescued by fellow Americans.

"And no, it's not fair that AIG paid off its debts in full to banks and other investors for losses on their mortgage securities even though those mortgages aren't worth much."