Pakistan's 'Bunker President' emerges fighting

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ISLAMABAD, Jan 31 (AFP): Months out of the public eye earned him the nickname "Bunker President," but Pakistan's Asif Ali Zardari has made a lively comeback, desperate to drum up support as challenges mount, analysts say.
Zardari "is fighting for his political survival," international relations professor Mutahir Sheikh told AFP, as ministers face corruption cases, Islamist unrest grips the nation, and relations with the powerful military falter.
Sporting a towering white turban and vigorously pumping his arms behind a plate of bullet-proof glass, Zardari in January toured Punjab province addressing members of his Pakistan People's Party (PPP) with rousing speeches.
Punctuated with frequent cries of "Long Live Pakistan!" his tour made television news nearly every day-in contrast with the first year of his presidency when public engagements were a rare and sombre affair. But analysts warn his rabble-rousing could backfire.
"Zardari is doing local and provincial politics instead of behaving like the nation's president," said retired general and political analyst Talat Masood, accusing the president of misreading the public mood.
"He is trying to deflect attention from the problems being faced by the people who want leaders to deliver.... The country is facing a plethora of problems, internal and external, as well as pressure from the Taliban."
Zardari's approval ratings have steadily declined since the PPP won elections in February 2008 on a wave of support after the assassination less than two months earlier of his wife, two-time prime minister Benazir Bhutto.