Aquino, 54, was thrust into public life under difficult circumstances.. Her husband, Opposition Leader Benigno Aquino, was vilified by the Marcos regime for his strident opposition to the governments strict denial of any dissent and was mysteriously murdered at an airport earlier this year.
Much of Aquino's popularity hinges on reverence for her murdered husband. Many billboards bearing her image show his face as well, as a ghostly backdrop to hers.
Although her power-sharing talks with Marcos have hurt her popularity, Aquino has sought to present the prospective alliance as a means of ensuring an orderly transition to civilian rule. Marcos seized power in a 1967 coup.
Aquino takes credit for helping pressure Marcos into a pledge to give up his post as army chief before being inaugurated in mid-November to another term as president. But many wonder whether he will keep that pledge.
It is widely feared that the general will impose martial law if the Supreme Court rules that his Oct. 6 re-election by lawmakers was invalid. Opponents said the vote should not have been held while Marcos continued in his role as head of the military.
Bhutto arrives in Pakistan to cheering crowds
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The former prime minister says her return heralds a move to democracy as judges begin hearing a challenge to Musharraf's reelection.
By Laura King, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 18, 2007
KARACHI, PAKISTAN -- Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto arrived home today to a delirious welcome from flag-waving, drum-beating supporters who mobbed the airport and danced in the streets to greet her.
Bhutto's commercial flight from Dubai, where she has spent much of her eight-year exile, touched down shortly before 2 p.m., nearly an hour behind schedule. Tens of thousands of supporters of her Pakistan People's Party had already spent hours waiting under a hot sun, sheltering under makeshift tents and canopies.
Many of those who traveled from elsewhere in Pakistan to welcome Bhutto spent the night in parks and traffic roundabouts so that tight security would not prevent them from watching her bulletproof vehicle pass by.
Bhutto, with a white headscarf draped loosely over her black hair, disembarked from the plane to cheers and whoops of jubilation from supporters. She wiped tears from her eyes as she waved to the crowd that surged onto the tarmac.
The former leader's return marks a turbulent new phase in Pakistani politics. She has forged an alliance with the unpopular president, Pervez Musharraf, who is also chief of the army. But any power-sharing arrangement between the two could swiftly unravel, particularly if court challenges to Musharraf's election to a new presidential term are upheld.
Bhutto intends to lead her party in parliamentary elections that are to take place by early next year, and hopes to win a constitutional waiver to serve a third term as prime minister.
