Story here. Like Nixon, Musharraf is resigning to avoid impeachment.
Who will replace him as president? And what will this mean for Pakistan’s relations with U.S., with Afghanistan, and with the GWOT?
I hate to say this but probably not good. Musharraf may have been a dictator but he was better than many of the alternatives. Pakistan may end up with an Islamic fundamentalist government or a kleptocracy or a civil war.
…with nuclear weapons. And people wonder why the idea of Iran getting nukes sends a shudder down the spine…
-XT
Yeah, this is probably a very bad thing.
I’m pretty ignorant of Pakistani politics. I know the major names like Musharraf, Sharif, Zardari, etc. but not what their political differences are (well, other than knowing that Musharraf installed himself in a bloodless coup).
So please inform me: Which of the leaders or political parties are most aligned with or against the fundamentalists? That is, as someone who doesn’t want to see Pakistan become a fundamentalist nation, who should I want in power?
Anybody?
None of the major parties are aligned with the fundamentalists, except for Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal. For the composition of Parliament see here.
Maybe India will make a move to “stabilize” the region.
Musharraf was no saint, but who the hell else wants that job?
"Zardari is better known as “Mr. Ten Percent.” According to reports, while serving as minister for investment and environment when Benazir Bhutto was Prime Minister in the early 1990s, he demanded and was paid a ten-percent payoff (or bakshish in the South Asian lexicon) from foreign contractors doing business in Pakistan. Nawaz Sharief has been similarly accused of stealing money from the Pakistani treasury.
The sad reality about Pakistan is that after freeing itself from the death grip of Musharraf, it is stuck with the option of choosing between the leadership of Zardari and Sharief. Zardari’s sole claim to fame (aside from being known as Mr. Ten percent) is that he was the husband of Benazir Bhutto. During the last months of her life, he was living with his girlfriend in a separate residence, while Benazir was scurrying around to make a deal with the U.S. so that she could return to Pakistan and run for office. She succeeded in attaining that objective only to become a victim of the maddening spirals of terrorism.
After her death, Zardari created the façade of mourning for the loss of his wife only to emerge first as the guardian of their son, Bilawal Zardari (whose name was changed to Bilawal Zardari Bhutto to lay claim to the legacy of his fallen mother). However, since Bilawal is only 19 years old, Zardari, in the interim, conveniently decided to become the active head of the PPP and to run for the presidency of Pakistan for which he has absolutely no qualifications."