What's going on in Pakistan?

Los Angeles Times, Opinion, November 14, 2007 by Fatima Bhutto (Niece of Beenazir Bhutto)In a piece titled "Aunt Benazir's false promises" Fatima Bhutto warns, "Bhutto's return bodes poorly for Pakistan -- and for democracy there."

KARACHI -- We Pakistanis live in uncertain times. Emergency rule has been imposed for the 13th time in our short 60-year history. Thousands of lawyers have been arrested, some charged with sedition and treason; the chief justice has been deposed; and a draconian media law -- shutting down all private news channels -- has been drafted.

Perhaps the most bizarre part of this circus has been the hijacking of the democratic cause by my aunt, the twice-disgraced former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto. While she was hashing out a deal to share power with Gen. Pervez Musharraf last month, she repeatedly insisted that without her, democracy in Pakistan would be a lost cause. Now that the situation has changed, she's saying that she wants Musharraf to step down and that she'd like to make a deal with his opponents -- but still, she says, she's the savior of democracy. Continued...

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