‘Minus-one formula’ back in currency

With the civil-military relations in the country hitting rock bottom and intermediaries springing in action to normalise the deteriorating relations, the “Minus-One Formula” is back in currency in Islamabad’s power corridors and chattering classes.
And this time it is not President Asif Ali Zardari facing the music; it is Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani who finds himself a target of all sides, including the most powerful military establishment.
Interestingly in the fast changing political scene, most political forces put the blame on the prime minister for the present state of affairs and deterioration in relations between the incumbent political and military top brass.
Gilani earned the displeasure of the military leadership after he made a series of statements that hurt the military leadership and its institutional interests, the latest being when he questioned the legality of the position taken by the army chief and ISI DG before the Supreme Court in “memogate” scandal while submitting their replies.
The top military brass wants the prime minister to retract from his recent statements as a pre-condition to normalise the relations with the PPP government. But intriguingly, the prime minister is not ready to give in, let alone eating his words as being advised to him by some political quarters.
On Sunday, the prime minister further upped the ante when he said that being the representative of people of Pakistan, he was only answerable to parliament, none other.
Amid soaring tension between the PPP government and military leaders, army chief General Kayani met President Asif Zardari the other day.
It was the first meeting between the two after the president’s much-hyped medical treatment in the UAE.
Soon after the meeting, a foreign news agency reported that Kayani asked Zardari that the prime minister should clarify his statement in which he called the statements of the army chief and ISI DG unlawful.
It is interesting to note that meeting between Kayani and the president took place after an emergent meeting of Corps Commander called to take stock of the situation in the aftermath of prime minister’s recent outbursts.
The sources said the Minus One formula resurfaced soon after the Corps Commander’s meeting. According to the formula, the military establishment is ready to deal with the present political set up led by the PPP and play ball with it until the next elections, but without the incumbent chief executive.
On the other hand, the prime minister is not ready to give in as his partners in the parliament and party seem firm in his support.
The minus-one formula had made rounds across the country earlier as well, but President Zardari had been part of the problem then.
Sources in the PPP maintain that at this stage, it would not be possible for the party or Zardari to go after Gilani to appease the military.
Political analysts say the emergence of the formula could be a pressure tactic on part of the military establishment to tame an increasingly assertive prime minister.
The sources said a meeting between Gilani and Kayani was expected early this week in the Presidency to settle the differences between the two sides.