Yes things are looking pretty bad in Pakistan. The demonstrations and unrest are genuine expressions of the frustration that many people of all classes feel. The contradictions are growing wider every day, unfortunately there is no organised independent political leadership of any great significance that can build on recent events.
Over the last couple of months Musharraf has been in talks with Benazir Bhutto with a view to her returning Pakistan to play a role in government. This would provide him with a much needed gloss to his rule and help him with his paymasters in the US. She is also on relatively good terms with the leadership of Jamaat-e-Islami (the main Islamist party) and might be able to help keep them in line.
None of this is going to be any good for the people, the foreseeable future looks pretty grim.
-----Original Message----- From: lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org [mailto:lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org] On Behalf Of Yoshie Furuhashi Sent: 16 May 2007 02:07 PM To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org Subject: [lbo-talk] Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry
On 5/15/07, Steven L. Robinson <srobin21 at comcast.net> wrote:
> We can only wish that is the case. Certainly, both
> regimes seem to be in big trouble, especially in
> Pakistan. If the government there is overthrown.
> it would certainly throw a monkey wrench into US
> plans for Iran and make the Afghanistan adventure
> even more untenable. SR
I've yet to find out much about Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, but one thing I do know about the justice speaks in his favor. A lot of oppositions to Musharraf don't seem to have much in common with one another, but maybe this man can serve as the symbol of all the oppositions.