The president of Pakistan has resigned and his departure threatens to throw Pakistan into political chaos (The New York Times – Pakistani Parties Clash Over Reinstating Judge):
Political order in Pakistan frayed further on Tuesday, the day after President Pervez Musharraf resigned, raising questions about who in the deeply divided civilian government would be in charge and for how long.
The instant deterioration in relations within the government became evident when Nawaz Sharif, the leader of one of the two major parties in the governing coalition, the Pakistan Muslim League-N, walked out of a meeting here over the restoration of the chief justice of the Supreme Court, who had been dismissed by Mr. Musharraf. He then headed back to his home in Lahore, a four-hour drive away.
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Even by the standards of Pakistan's hard-boiled and volatile politics, the public discord between the political leaders was surprising, politicians said, a sign that opposition to Mr. Musharraf may have been the strongest thread tying them together.
From the days when he was just a general, to the coup, his uneasy reign as both president and general, and then to his final days as politically side-lined president, it has been a long and dramatic journey for Pervez Musharraf. He had a tough line to walk, navigating between a populace and a military heavily sympathetic to Islamic insurgents and a U.S. ally asking for help in defeating those same insurgents. Add to the mix a volatile relationship with neighbor and nuclear competitor India and you have the making of a rather thankless job. In the end, neither his American allies or his own people supported him. He was a patriot who placed his country first and tried to steer a middle path between multiple competing interests. I’m willing to bet that history will be kind to Musharraf, especially if his absence proves just how adept he was at keeping Pakistan stable. I hope that the United States will come to appreciate and honor the assistance that Musharraf provided in the War on Terrorism and that for all his failings (and there were many) we will look back on him as an able and valuable ally.