fatman17
PDF THINK TANK: CONSULTANT
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2007
- Messages
- 32,563
- Reaction score
- 98
- Country
- Location
Pakistan's Embrace of Bhutto May Prove Short-Lived (Update2)
By Janine Zacharia and Khalid Qayum
Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- When Benazir Bhutto lands in Pakistan today after eight years in exile, party supporters and average citizens are expected to pour into the boulevards of Karachi to greet her.
That warm embrace may be short-lived.
Bhutto's first hurdle in a bid to be elected prime minister for a third time will be to consolidate a fragile power-sharing arrangement with her former rival, President Pervez Musharraf, 64. The 54-year-old Harvard graduate's next challenge will be to shore up her popularity and reputation as a champion of democracy, which have suffered from the deal with Musharraf.
``It hurts her with Pakistanis who want real democracy, not half-way, phony democracy, and that includes people in her own party,'' said Bruce Riedel, a former CIA analyst now with the Brookings Institution's Saban Center in Washington, who specializes in Pakistan.
``She's sold out the Pakistani democratic movement in order to gain her own chance of being prime minister again,'' Riedel said, ``and she doesn't come out looking very good.''
Thousands of Bhutto's supporters reached the Karachi airport early this morning to prepare for her arrival from Dubai at 1 p.m. local time.
Posters and Billboards
Posters and billboards have been put up all across the commercial capital of Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city, welcoming Bhutto back to the country. Her Pakistan People's Party's red, black and green striped flags have been hoisted at intersections and along the city's major roads.
Party supporters also set up booths where they gathered in the days leading up to today's arrival to distribute sweets, dance to pro-Bhutto songs and shout slogans. Celebrations including fireworks and live music, continued through the night yesterday.
``I have heard that more than a million people are gathering in Karachi from far flung areas of Pakistan to welcome me home,'' Bhutto told reporters in Dubai yesterday. ``From the rugged mountains of the Karakoram Range to the shores of the Arabian ocean, a sea of people will gather filled with hope.''
Hundreds of people who had traveled from various parts of the country gathered outside Bhutto's residence in southern Karachi late yesterday, where tents had been put up for them to spend the night.
Families and Livelihoods
``We left our families and our livelihoods and walked for nine days to get here in time to receive Benazir,'' said Mohammed Rana, a 23-year-old store owner who traveled in a group of 70 party supporters from the town of Umerkot in the southern province of Sindh. ``It doesn't matter if our families starve or we lose business. What matters is that Benazir needs us and we're here.''
Only months ago, Bhutto was the most popular Pakistani politician, even in exile, according to polls. The backroom negotiations with Musharraf -- to extend his presidency and allow her to return and run for office -- have dented her popularity, as has U.S. support for the power-sharing arrangement.
``Public opinion is going against her for entering a deal with a military dictator and for towing the American line,'' said Khalid Mahmud, a research analyst at Institute of Regional Studies in Islamabad. That's ``seen as a very unpopular gesture in Pakistan by the religious people and average Pakistanis.''
Poll Respondents
In a poll released Oct. 11 by the Washington-based International Republican Institute, 28 percent of respondents said Bhutto was the leader who could best handle the problems facing Pakistan, down from 32 percent in a June survey, and below the 36 percent approval for former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
In the institute's June survey, Bhutto was at the top of the list with 32 percent support, and Sharif was below her and Musharraf.
Unlike Bhutto, Sharif has not dealt with Musharraf, who overthrew his government in 1999 and then charged him with corruption and treason before allowing him to go into exile in 2000. When Sharif attempted to return to Pakistan Sept. 10 to block Musharraf's presidential re-election bid, he was held by police at Islamabad's airport and deported to Saudi Arabia, where he has lived for seven years.
On her return, Bhutto also has to contend with threats to her life. A pro-Taliban militant leader from Pakistan's tribal region earlier this month threatened to kill Bhutto in a suicide attack.
Musharraf is deploying thousands of security forces to guard her on her return, fearing he would be blamed for any assassination attempt on her life.
`High Alert'
Over 2,500 troops have been assigned to manage security at the airport, said Fazl Mahmood, spokesman for the Pakistan Rangers, the nation's paramilitary force. The city's 12,000 personnel have also been placed on ``high alert'' and some have been posted at hospitals in the event of violence, he said.
Another 2,000 airport security personnel have also been assigned to Bhutto's security team, GEO television reported yesterday. A total of 20,000 police officers have been deployed in the city, The Nation newspaper reported.
Schools and colleges in Karachi remained closed today and most shops and businesses did not open this morning.
As part of the deal allowing her return, Bhutto did not object to Musharraf being re-elected Oct. 6 by the current parliament and state legislatures, a vote boycotted by the opposition, and which is being reviewed by the Supreme Court for its legality. Bhutto is hoping that the laws will be changed to allow her to run for a third term as prime minister in parliamentary elections due by Jan. 15. Musharraf has agreed to give up control of the army by Nov. 15 as part of the deal.
Corruption Charges
On Oct. 5, the government introduced a law withdrawing corruption charges against Bhutto as part of a national reconciliation plan. Pakistan's Supreme Court, the highest appeals court, ruled Oct. 12 that a panel of judges will make a final decision on whether the law was discriminatory.
Bhutto's supporters crowded the aisles, clapped and chanted in Urdu ``long live Benazir'' and ``Benazir for prime minister'' on board Emirates Flight 30 overnight from London to Dubai, forcing the flight crew to repeatedly demand a halt to the impromptu rally as confused passengers tried to sleep.
After landing in Karachi today, Bhutto is scheduled to address a news conference and then lead a caravan to the mausoleum of the founder of Pakistan, Mohammed Ali Jinnah.
She will later travel to her ancestral village of Naudero, outside the city of Larkana in Sindh province, where her party's political support is concentrated.
To contact the reporters on this story: Janine Zacharia in Karachi at jzacharia@bloomberg.net ; Khalid Qayum in Islamabad at kqayum@bloomberg.net .
By Janine Zacharia and Khalid Qayum
Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- When Benazir Bhutto lands in Pakistan today after eight years in exile, party supporters and average citizens are expected to pour into the boulevards of Karachi to greet her.
That warm embrace may be short-lived.
Bhutto's first hurdle in a bid to be elected prime minister for a third time will be to consolidate a fragile power-sharing arrangement with her former rival, President Pervez Musharraf, 64. The 54-year-old Harvard graduate's next challenge will be to shore up her popularity and reputation as a champion of democracy, which have suffered from the deal with Musharraf.
``It hurts her with Pakistanis who want real democracy, not half-way, phony democracy, and that includes people in her own party,'' said Bruce Riedel, a former CIA analyst now with the Brookings Institution's Saban Center in Washington, who specializes in Pakistan.
``She's sold out the Pakistani democratic movement in order to gain her own chance of being prime minister again,'' Riedel said, ``and she doesn't come out looking very good.''
Thousands of Bhutto's supporters reached the Karachi airport early this morning to prepare for her arrival from Dubai at 1 p.m. local time.
Posters and Billboards
Posters and billboards have been put up all across the commercial capital of Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city, welcoming Bhutto back to the country. Her Pakistan People's Party's red, black and green striped flags have been hoisted at intersections and along the city's major roads.
Party supporters also set up booths where they gathered in the days leading up to today's arrival to distribute sweets, dance to pro-Bhutto songs and shout slogans. Celebrations including fireworks and live music, continued through the night yesterday.
``I have heard that more than a million people are gathering in Karachi from far flung areas of Pakistan to welcome me home,'' Bhutto told reporters in Dubai yesterday. ``From the rugged mountains of the Karakoram Range to the shores of the Arabian ocean, a sea of people will gather filled with hope.''
Hundreds of people who had traveled from various parts of the country gathered outside Bhutto's residence in southern Karachi late yesterday, where tents had been put up for them to spend the night.
Families and Livelihoods
``We left our families and our livelihoods and walked for nine days to get here in time to receive Benazir,'' said Mohammed Rana, a 23-year-old store owner who traveled in a group of 70 party supporters from the town of Umerkot in the southern province of Sindh. ``It doesn't matter if our families starve or we lose business. What matters is that Benazir needs us and we're here.''
Only months ago, Bhutto was the most popular Pakistani politician, even in exile, according to polls. The backroom negotiations with Musharraf -- to extend his presidency and allow her to return and run for office -- have dented her popularity, as has U.S. support for the power-sharing arrangement.
``Public opinion is going against her for entering a deal with a military dictator and for towing the American line,'' said Khalid Mahmud, a research analyst at Institute of Regional Studies in Islamabad. That's ``seen as a very unpopular gesture in Pakistan by the religious people and average Pakistanis.''
Poll Respondents
In a poll released Oct. 11 by the Washington-based International Republican Institute, 28 percent of respondents said Bhutto was the leader who could best handle the problems facing Pakistan, down from 32 percent in a June survey, and below the 36 percent approval for former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
In the institute's June survey, Bhutto was at the top of the list with 32 percent support, and Sharif was below her and Musharraf.
Unlike Bhutto, Sharif has not dealt with Musharraf, who overthrew his government in 1999 and then charged him with corruption and treason before allowing him to go into exile in 2000. When Sharif attempted to return to Pakistan Sept. 10 to block Musharraf's presidential re-election bid, he was held by police at Islamabad's airport and deported to Saudi Arabia, where he has lived for seven years.
On her return, Bhutto also has to contend with threats to her life. A pro-Taliban militant leader from Pakistan's tribal region earlier this month threatened to kill Bhutto in a suicide attack.
Musharraf is deploying thousands of security forces to guard her on her return, fearing he would be blamed for any assassination attempt on her life.
`High Alert'
Over 2,500 troops have been assigned to manage security at the airport, said Fazl Mahmood, spokesman for the Pakistan Rangers, the nation's paramilitary force. The city's 12,000 personnel have also been placed on ``high alert'' and some have been posted at hospitals in the event of violence, he said.
Another 2,000 airport security personnel have also been assigned to Bhutto's security team, GEO television reported yesterday. A total of 20,000 police officers have been deployed in the city, The Nation newspaper reported.
Schools and colleges in Karachi remained closed today and most shops and businesses did not open this morning.
As part of the deal allowing her return, Bhutto did not object to Musharraf being re-elected Oct. 6 by the current parliament and state legislatures, a vote boycotted by the opposition, and which is being reviewed by the Supreme Court for its legality. Bhutto is hoping that the laws will be changed to allow her to run for a third term as prime minister in parliamentary elections due by Jan. 15. Musharraf has agreed to give up control of the army by Nov. 15 as part of the deal.
Corruption Charges
On Oct. 5, the government introduced a law withdrawing corruption charges against Bhutto as part of a national reconciliation plan. Pakistan's Supreme Court, the highest appeals court, ruled Oct. 12 that a panel of judges will make a final decision on whether the law was discriminatory.
Bhutto's supporters crowded the aisles, clapped and chanted in Urdu ``long live Benazir'' and ``Benazir for prime minister'' on board Emirates Flight 30 overnight from London to Dubai, forcing the flight crew to repeatedly demand a halt to the impromptu rally as confused passengers tried to sleep.
After landing in Karachi today, Bhutto is scheduled to address a news conference and then lead a caravan to the mausoleum of the founder of Pakistan, Mohammed Ali Jinnah.
She will later travel to her ancestral village of Naudero, outside the city of Larkana in Sindh province, where her party's political support is concentrated.
To contact the reporters on this story: Janine Zacharia in Karachi at jzacharia@bloomberg.net ; Khalid Qayum in Islamabad at kqayum@bloomberg.net .
