Of course, all the news media have been covering that Benazir Bhutto's husband and son have become the new Co-Chairmen of the Pakistan People's Party. Much more importantly is what the PPP has been saying (italics added):
The PPP's new leadership indicated yesterday that the party, seared by the tragedy, has now become a formidable enemy to the embattled Mr. Musharraf. "Cooperation with him is out of the question now," said Taj Haider, a senior PPP official and former senator. "What we are doing is accusing Gen. Musharraf of murdering Benazir Bhutto." ...
Harnessing suspicions of government involvement has become the key campaign plank of the PPP ahead of the national election Jan. 8 that is set to install a new prime minister to share power with Mr. Musharraf. The issue of Islamist extremism has virtually disappeared from the public debate. ...The party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif -- which just two days ago declared it would boycott the election -- indicated yesterday that it will take part in the vote if PPP also participates. ...
In contrast, Mr. Musharraf's allies -- until now the most vocal backers of the Jan. 8 election -- have started to call for a delay. ...
PPP officials yesterday cautioned against any moves to prevent the Jan. 8 vote from occurring on schedule. ...
Should the government embark on this path, he added, the PPP will respond "on the streets," with massive unrest.
- Wall Street Journal (italics added)
Even if Musharraf had nothing to do with Bhutto's assassination, he now finds himself in a no win situation. Even before Bhutto's assassination, the January 8 elections were going to be seen as less than legitimate because the state of emergency was only lifted on December 15 (- BBC South Asia). And now his own supporters are pressuring him to 'postpone' them. Both will undoubtedly lead to further unrest and lead us all further from the goal of containing the Al Qaida and Taliban forces.
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