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Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of Benazir Bhutto, is an unlikely leader who assumes leadership during a volatile period

ISLAMABAD
Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of Benazir Bhutto, was elected president of Pakistan over the weekend. The landslide victory is not without moral controversy, reports the International Herald Tribune, as Zardari is dogged by a variety of corruption allegations.

His wife was assassinated in December 2007 after she returned to Pakistan from exile, under a deal in which she would become prime minister while general Pervez Musharraf would hold the presidency.

After facing harsh criticism and falling popularity over his recent attempts to retain power despite constitutional limits, Musharraf resigned in August.

Reporting from Islamabad, Times of London correspondent Christina Lamb notes that the ascent of Zardari is viewed widely throughout Pakistan as one of the most unlikely political outcomes that could have been imagined a year ago.

Meanwhile, the election adds more uncertainty to an already unpredictable and volatile tableau. Newsweek correspondents Ron Moreau and Zahid Hussain report that Pakistanis are wondering what Zardari will do with his near-dictatorial powers.

“The country is facing a near economic meltdown and a runaway Islamic insurgency,” they write. “Just before the vote a suicide bomber killed 16 Pakistanis in an attack on a police post in the northwestern city of Peshawar. Indeed, some Pakistanis doubt that he is up to the enormous task before him, largely because of his dubious past. Zardari spent more than 11 years in jail on a slew of corruption charges involving tens of millions of dollars and prime real estate deals. As a minister in his wife’s government he had earned the unflattering sobriquet of Mr. Ten Percent from the alleged commissions he demanded on government contracts. But he was never convicted of the allegations that have now been dismissed, and which he says were politically motivated.”

Sources: International Herald Tribune, Sep. 7 — Times of London, Sep. 6 — Daily Telegraph, Sep. 6 — Newsweek, Sep. 5.

For more information, see: Related Newsline story, June 30 — Related Newsline story, Jan. 7 — Related Newsline story, Dec. 31, 2007 — Related Newsline story, Nov. 13, 2007 — Related Newsline story, Nov. 5, 2007.