To oust Zardari two-thirds of the combined strength of the National Assembly and the Senate (295 from 442) are required which is not possible because of numerical strength of his Peoples Party and allies. Hence it will be easy to ease Zardari out if a link is established between him and the memo.
Haqqani's forced resignation has already weakened the Zardari government, which is beset by allegations of corruption and incompetence in the face of many challenges, including a weak economy.
All major opposition parties are already demanding early elections which are not due until 2013. The Memo Scandal has added fuel to the opposition demands with huge political rallies in major Pakistani towns. Why people are joining huge anti-government rallies? Statistics about the increasing number of people living under poverty line will suffice to show the public discontent. The number of Pakistanis living under poverty line was 47.1 million in March 2008 when the Zardari led People's Party came into power. In December 2011, the number of poor people is 72.9 million or 41% of the total population.
Not surprisingly, one such massive rally -- attended by around 300,000 people - was held on December 25 in Karachi by the emerging third big political party, Tehrik-e-Insaf Pakistan (TIP) led by Imran Khan. Many prominent political leaders -- who enjoy safe seats in any election -- have recently joined the TIP which gave rise to speculations that the government may be forced to call early election if the judicial inquiry finds a link between Haqqani/Zardari and the memo.
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