Giving a shock of their life to media critics and his political opponents who had created a stir across the country that he would not return to Pakistan on the pretext of his ill-health, President Asif Ali Zardari returned early on Monday to question the credibility of his detractors for speculating his political future amidst the memo controversy.
With the reports from Dubai that Zardari was ready to leave for Pakistan, the analysts who had suspected his return in their writings and talk shows once again attempted to twist the situation, but they had to eat dust as the president returned early on Monday – the day the Supreme Court is set to take up the memo case – telling his opponents that he would face all challenges and not run away. The president’s special flight PK-01 landed in Karachi at the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Masroor base at 1:05am. Sindh Governor Ishratul Ebad Khan and Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah received the president. Sindh Information Minister Shazia Marri said the president, despite his return, would get bed rest in accordance with the advice of his doctors. “The president’s return will shut the mouths of some people,” she added. Security was beefed up in the city, and large contingents of police, Rangers and the Frontier Constabulary (FC) were suddenly deployed on Karachi roads, including Shahrah-e-Faisal, in the late hours of Sunday. Sindh Home Minister Manzoor Wasan arrived at the Bilawal House to review security arrangements.
According to sources, Zardari would rest in Karachi for some days and then leave for Islamabad.
After being discharged from the hospital, the president kept a regular contact with Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and his close aides, who had been telling the media that he was “OK” and would return soon.
Insiders say the meeting between the prime minister and Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani last Friday was “very significant”, as misunderstandings were removed during the meeting with Zardari talking to Gilani and Kayani.
Senator Faisal Raza Abadi, a close aide of the president, told Pakistan Today on Sunday that the president would return any time after midnight. “Mark my words and also bring on record those who had been saying that the president would not return,” he said. Senior Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader and federal minister Khurshid Shah had said in a recent TV programme that the president would return before December 27. Similarly, on Sunday Gilani also said the president would return before the death anniversary of Benazir Bhutto (December 27).
However, his critics continued to suggest that Zardari would not return until the memo controversy was resolved. But some independent political analysts believed that while the memo issue was still wrapped in mystery, there was no threat to the president. They believed that Zardari would return to attend his wife’s death anniversary because his absence on the occasion would damage his party. The president had left Pakistan for a sudden health visit to Dubai on December 6. The conflicting official statements about his departure had, however, created confusions as a clear truth about his health was not told. The situation got clear when Zardari’s doctors at the American Hospital issued a certificate on December 13 and discharged him from the hospital the next day.
“All investigations were within normal range and he was kept under observation for a few more days and (he) is planned to be discharged on December 15 to rest at home as advised and to continue on his regular heart medications,” the certificate issued by the American Hospital said, adding that Zardari had been admitted to the hospital on December 6 with a complaint of numbness and twitching in the left arm, and a transient episode of loss of consciousness that lasted for a few seconds. Upon arrival at the hospital’s emergency room, the president was fully awake and conscious. Given the history of his heart disease, cardiac and neurological tests were carried out which included MRI of the brain, lumbar puncture, 2-D echocardiogram, carotid Doppler and a complete blood test.