In recent months, a notable strand of political discourse within Pakistan has centred on calls from certain quarters for the replacement of the current coalition associated with the Sharif and Zardari political networks with a so-called “national government” or a technocratic reset. These demands are being framed not merely as partisan dissatisfaction but as a response to a perceived crisis of governance, legitimacy, and economic direction.

Whether articulated by segments of the policy elite, business community, or sections of political parties, the underlying argument is consistent: that Pakistan’s entrenched political class, dominated by figures such as Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari, has presided over a hybrid system that is increasingly seen as lacking real legitimacy and incapable of delivering coherent policies or an economic model that can meet Pakistan’s daunting economic challenges.

This debate acquired sharper geopolitical resonance after a recent televised interview by senior PPP leader and former presidential spokesperson Farhatullah Babar. In that conversation, Babar did not merely speculate about external influence; he situated his argument within both personal experience and historical record.

Citing a meeting in 2001–02 with a U.S.–Pakistani official in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, he described how Washington’s expectations from Islamabad were framed in terms of strategic deliverables: cooperation on security, policy predictability, and alignment with evolving regional imperatives. Babar reinforced these themes in his book The Zardari Presidency, which recounts how critical political transitions in Pakistan have often unfolded against the backdrop of U.S. strategic calculations.

His point was not that Washington dictates domestic outcomes, but that Pakistan’s power pivots are routinely interpreted externally through the prism of strategic utility rather than democratic form.

To grasp Washington’s likely posture........

© The Friday Times