Word: musharraf
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...enters a crucial period, which could well decide the future of his country, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has few viable options left. Not only are his political opponents stronger than at any time in the past few years, but his bungling of a judicial crisis - Musharraf suspended a chief justice last March for alleged misconduct - turned the country's courts against him, making it even harder for the President to get to another term. Musharraf has crafted a career out of extricating himself from tight spots. Could he finally be so boxed in that there is no escape? Here...
Unlikely to succeed, at least if the elections are anything approaching free and fair. Musharraf faces not only the legal hassles of securing his nomination, but also his massive unpopularity...
...constitution forbids anyone from simultaneously holding the positions of President and army chief, but Musharraf won a one-time pass from this law in 2002. That amnesty runs out in November and getting it renewed will not be easy: the Supreme Court then was not at odds with the President...
...Even if Musharraf finds a way around that problem, he would likely struggle in a countrywide vote. Many Pakistanis see their President as an American puppet, a perception exacerbated by the fact that he has failed miserably in convincing Pakistanis that terrorism threatens them just as much as it does Americans. According to a public opinion survey by the International Republican Institute, a U.S. government-backed group that promotes democracy, 59% of Pakistanis think their country is headed in the wrong direction, up from 38% in June 2006, while 63% of people believe Musharraf should resign...
...development could spell trouble for Washington, which has strongly backed Musharraf since 9/11, and has lately supported the idea of an alliance between him and Benazir Bhutto as widening the base of a moderate center. Sharif's return would give Pakistanis angry with Musharraf an easy way to register a protest against him and his foreign backers. "They [the U.S.] can't gain anything by salvaging a dictator; there is no credible political party that supports Musharraf," says the PML-N's Iqbal. Or as Iftikhar Gilani, Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court and former Law Minister under Bhutto puts...