Into the Wilderness

In Pakistan the political party of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan People's Party (PPP), is choosing a path to political obscurity. The party members voted to have her 19 yr.-old son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, run the party in the eventual future. They also approved of having her husband operate for the next few years. The Washington Post explains,

Bhutto's husband, Asif Ali Zardari, whose reputation has long been tainted by corruption charges, will run the party for at least the next several years.

Voting on emotion, the PPP loses any influence that they might have had. Even National Review echoes this sentiment in its State of Doubt editorial,

But a bold and effective civilian politician from the current opposition parties is also needed to provide the democratic legitimacy and mass support for such boldness.

No such figure is on the scene — Nawaz Sharif is neither popular nor strong enough to do the job even if he were willing to do so. Bhutto had crowded out strong rivals in her own party (and her own family too).

If in the upcoming elections the Pakistani voters choose a leader based on traumatic emotions, Buhtto's PPP will hold the levers of power in a state controlled by other mightier political factions. The government will run on auto-pilot, and the PPP will only think that they are in control. The end result is that our own national security is compromised in the short run.

My friends: We did it. We weren't just marking time. We made a difference. We made the city stronger. We made the city freer, and we left her in good hands. All in all, not bad, not bad at all. -- Ronald Regan Farewell Address to the Nation --