Secondly, PMLQ is led by people with an obsessive distrust of Bhutto. Their main political effort recently has been to oppose Bhutto’s demands such as the abolition of Article 58(2) b that would have been of benefit to the political class as a whole. Would she be able to convert them to real empowerment of the people and parliament?
Third, Bhutto has been away for a long time and needs to re-connect with the people. What she has been saying to the Americans has not always gone done well in Pakistan. In the case of AQ Khan, her remarks were deliberately distorted by her opponents. She also needs to avoid framing the ongoing contest between moderates and extremists in Manichean terms. Her policy towards India is lucid and persuasive but not so when it comes to the crisis in the broader Middle East which includes Iran.
A free and fair election has its own perils but nothing else will save Pakistan. A credible restoration of authentic representative institutions could possibly bring back at least some of the contentious issues within the ambit of democratic mediation and accommodation. It may also make the idea of national reconciliation more meaningful.
The End
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