Sidelined Musharraf Still Exerts Influence

Despite his party's liberal ideology, critics say Zardari has been showing increasing signs of autocracy, such as strong-arming opponents through intermediaries and cracking down on press freedoms. Media officials said he had ordered that Geo television, a major national source of news and political commentary, be barred from broadcasting in English and from airing several popular political talk shows.

"Zardari has broken a lot of promises and betrayed a lot of people. His strength now is in Musharraf, who is also the major destabilizing source in Pakistan," said Hamid Mir, the director and political host of Geo in the capital. The retention of the judges chosen by Musharraf, Mir said, is "essential to the political survival of both men."

Sharif, on the other hand, has become increasingly popular as he has repeatedly demanded the restoration of the ousted jurists and the removal of Musharraf. On Tuesday, when he announced that his party was withdrawing from the federal cabinet, he declared with apparent emotion, "We will not be part of a conspiracy to strengthen dictatorship."

Although Musharraf may have reaped some temporary benefits -- or at least some satisfaction -- from the current tiff among his civilian adversaries, analysts said he has been permanently weakened by his heavy-handed actions last year and further diminished through his military retirement.

Musharraf's close aides scoff at the notion that the president harbors any designs on power or would use force to achieve it. They say that the last few months have been bitter ones for the retired general, 62, who was pressured to retire from the army and relinquish control of the country after a series of missteps aimed at clinging to office and quashing adversaries.

Rashid Qureshi, a retired army officer who is now Musharraf's spokesman, said that the politicians' latest sniping at Musharraf was based only on personal ambition for power and that it was both unjust and foolish for Pakistanis to accuse him of kowtowing to U.S. interests in the war against terrorism.

"We are not anybody's puppet. It is our war, and we need their help," Qureshi said. He said Musharraf's aides had advised him to be quiet and stay "20 steps back" from public life as the new government developed, but that he might start becoming more active in expressing his views if urgent situations developed with the economy or terrorism.

"His only desire is to act as the constitutional president and see Pakistan move into a total civilian dispensation," Qureshi said. "This is not the time for him to leave, because there may be need for his constructive advice. But as things stabilize, the right time will come for him to move away and say goodbye."

Wright reported from Washington.