Pakistan’s political pains

Last modification: 09/09/08

- Pakistan

Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf's resignation and the election of Asif Ali Zardari, widower of assassinated ex-PM Benazir Bhutto, as the nation's president, concludes a tumultuous year in Pakistani politics.

Pakistan People’s Party leader and widower of the late Benazir Bhutto, Asif Ali Zardari, won Pakistan's presidential election on Sept. 06.

Zardari was challenged by retired chief justice Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui, backed by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and Mushahid Hussain, a Musharraf aide.

Zardari will succeed former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who resigned in a televised address on 18th August, after nine years in power.

Facing impeachment by the democratic coalition government, Musharraf said that he was leaving the country in the hands of Allah.

And also in the hands of a fractious coalition government, led by Nawaz Sharif (of the PML-N) and Asif Ali Zardari (of the Pakistan’s People Party), husband of the assassinated ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

The country has faced rising Islamist insurgencies over the last year and its political-military alliance with the United States has estranged a large part of the population.

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