Pakistan Politics

Friends,
Pakistan's new president is not much to brag about.

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Rev O

Bhutto Widower With Clouded Past Is Set to Lead New York Times

"ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of Benazir Bhutto, is set to become president on Saturday, an accidental ascent for a man known more as a wheeler-dealer than a leader. He will start his tenure burdened by a history of corruption allegations that cloud his reputation even as they remain unproved."

"Though he has won the reluctant support of the Bush administration, which views him as a willing partner in the campaign against terrorism, Mr. Zardari will assume the presidency with what many consider untested governing skills as a tough Taliban insurgency threatens the very fabric of Pakistan, a nuclear-armed state of 165 million people."

“Zardari will wield unprecedented power for a civilian president,” said Maleeha Lodhi, who was appointed as Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States by Ms. Bhutto and then by Gen. Pervez Musharraf when he was Pakistan’s leader. “But he may lack authority in view of his checkered and controversial past.”

"Indeed, Mr. Zardari, who is expected to be chosen in Saturday’s election by the Parliament and four provisional assemblies, is the unintended beneficiary of sweeping powers accumulated by President Musharraf, including the right to dismiss the army chief of staff and dissolve Parliament."

"As president he will have, according to the Constitution, immunity from prosecution. He will enjoy top-notch security. And he will be provided with the rites of protocol that will allow him to appear on the world stage as a leader in his own right, and not just as the spouse of one."