Pakistan Prez Comes With Lots of Baggage

Bhutto's widower, the prisoner playboy, takes reins tomorrow

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 5, 2008 11:51 AM CDT

(Newser) – Asif Ali Zardari was once merely Benazir Bhutto’s polo-loving playboy of a husband, who was jailed for corruption and suspected of much worse. But tomorrow, he’ll become president of Pakistan. Bhutto’s death made Zardari an almost accidental leader of his party, and friends say his ignominious past is behind him. “He's suffered and he's grown,” one former cellmate tells the Wall Street Journal. “He's become a perfect politician. Give us a chance to deliver.”

But to many, Zardari is still “Mr. Ten Percent,” a nickname he earned for his alleged fondness for kickbacks. “Apart from party loyalists, few have been able to defend” Zardari’s selection, according to Al-Jazeera’s Pakistani analyst. Nearly every newspaper in the country has decried the pick, especially after the Financial Times disclosed that Zardari had been diagnosed with dementia and other mental disorders.

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (4)]

In this March 9, 2008, file photo, Asif Ali Zardari shares a light moment with journalists prior to a press conference in Bhurban, Pakistan. (AP Photo)

Asif Ali Zardari speaks during a party's central executive meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan in this Friday, Aug. 22, 2008 file photo. (AP Photo)

A Pakistani lawyer tears down a poster of Asif Ali Zardari during a demonstration in Islamabad, Aug. 28, 2008. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

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He seemed more interested in getting a girl and enjoying his life. - Rasool Baksh Palijo, head of a socialist party that worked with Zardari's father.

We say prison is like university -- you go and you learn. The biggest thing you learn is patience. - Agha Sieraaj Khan Durrani, former cellmate of Zardari

These people who have captured political power aren't really interested in good governance. - Rasul Bakhsh Rais, political science professor at Lahore University

Let the power of the guns and barrels be used, for a change, in the interest of the nation and the people. It is obvious that the politicians cannot clean the dirt. - Shaheen Sehbai, editor of Pakistan's The News, calling for the military to step in

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Pakistan Prez Comes With Lots of Baggage