Islamabad - Ijaz Afridi, a school teacher, is indifferent to the election of Asif Ali Zardari as Pakistan's new president. He is too busy with receiving condolences from visitors for his cousin, who was butchered by a suicide bomber together with 35 other people on Saturday, as lawmakers were voting for the new head of the state.

A single attacker in his twenties blew up his explosive-laden car after failing to cross a security checkpoint in a busy market just outside Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province (NWFP) on Saturday.

Hours later Afridi pulled his dead cousin out of the rubble of a nearby building demolished by the explosion, almost at the same time when Zardari was attending a feast to celebrate his victory together with his family members and loyalists.

"It makes no difference to us whether Zardari or someone else becomes the president of Pakistan. The Taliban will rule this area and our brothers, fathers and sons will continue to become the food of conflict between them and security forces," said Afridi.

This mistrust is widespread, particularly in the NWFP and the nearby lawless tribal regions, which are directly affected by the Taliban militancy spilling over from the neighboring Afghanistan.

Initially, the Taliban and al-Qaeda used tribal areas to launch cross-border attacks on US-led international forces after they invaded Afghanistan in 2001. In the following years, they turned to Pakistan, and have spread their philosophy as well as rule in the settled areas of NWFP.

How to stop and reverse the Taliban's infiltration into Pakistan is perhaps going to be the foremost challenge for Zardari, widower of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, as he takes oath as the country's president on Tuesday.

"People want him to deliver political goods and in the list of these political goods security stands at the top," said Rasool Bux Raees, a professor in political science at the prestigious Lahore University of Management Sciences.

He warns if Zardari fails, people might become disillusioned with the democracy and look for alternatives either in military or even in the extremist forces.

And he seems heading exactly in that direction. His Pakistan People's Party has been running the affairs of the country for the last six months, since it emerged as the largest party in February 18 elections and formed a coalition government in the following month, but no effective strategy has been put to use.

Anti-terrorism efforts have so far swung between offering talks to the militants and stern action against them, and then again going back to unilateral ceasefire. This paralysis has strained Islamabad's relations with its western allies, in particular Washington, in recent weeks.

Last Wednesday, the US carried out its first ground attack inside Pakistan and according to government claims, killed some 20 people, most of them women and children.

In response, Pakistan suspended supplies to NATO forces in Afghanistan through its territory.

"What they are doing in our border areas is not acceptable. We have stopped supplies to tell NATO forces how serious we are about this," said Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar.

According to a defence analyst Talat Masood, another major task would be to repair relations with the West and take them to the level where they were under former president Pervez Musharraf, who remained a key US ally in the fight against terrorism for last seven years.

"The new government will have to assure them that we will do whatever we can and ask them to appreciate the difficulties we face in tribal areas and that it is not an easy task we have been assigned to," he added.

Improved relations with the West would help Zardari to raise required funds to boost its economy, which has been deteriorating since the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in a suicide gun-and-bomb attack late in 2007, allegedly carried out by Taliban militants.

Pakistan's economy grew at an average of more than seven per cent during the last five years as western governments poured billions of dollars into Pakistan as a reward for its support against terrorism. However, growth slowed down to 5.8 per cent in fiscal year that ended on June 30.

Overwhelmed by sense of insecurity foreign investors have withdrawn funds, initiating a meltdown of country's stocks, which were further jolted by the political uncertainties set off by the defeat of Musharraf's allies in this year's parliamentary elections.

Pakistan's rupee has lost around 20 per cent of its value this year against the US dollar and stands now as the world's five worst performing currencies.

However, many believe Zardari's top priority should be taming the inflation which surged to record 24.3 last month, also partly due to rising international oil prices. Food inflation has risen to more than 34 per cent, hitting hard millions of people who earn around 50 dollars a month.

"I will assess Zardari's performance on what he does for the poor people like me," said Irshad Ahmed a construction worker as he carried a bag of cement on his back in an upmarket neighbourhood of Islamabad.

"I earn 6,000 rupees (around 45 US dollars) a month and everything is spent on buying food for my five children, wife and me. But we need more than that. My children want to buy new clothes on Eid (Muslim festival at the end of fasting month of Ramadan) and I do not have money for that," he added.

Many questions have been raised about Zardari's alleged corruption for which he was labeled as "Mr 10 percent" during his wife's two- time premiership back in 1990s. He has also spent 11 years in prisons for the accusations he denied as "politically motivated."

"If he was to be elected through a direct general vote, he could never be chosen by the public since he has such a bad image," said Bengali.

But it can be improved even by a small effort. "He has only to demonstrate that he understands what the problems are and that he is on the right track to solve them." (dpa)