Is Bhutto the answer? | The Week

WHAT HAPPENED Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto said while under house arrest that she would never share power with President Pervez Musharraf, who responded by saying that

Bhutto was worsening the situation by “producing negative vibes.” (_The New York Times_, free registration) WHAT THE COMMENTATORS SAID SUBSCRIBE TO THE WEEK Escape your echo chamber. Get the

facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives. SUBSCRIBE & SAVE SIGN UP FOR THE WEEK'S FREE NEWSLETTERS From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News

Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox. From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your

inbox. Musharraf has promised elections in January, said Bhutto in _The Washington Post_ (free registration), but the vote will be “a farce” unless he restores the constitution and steps

down. You can’t have democracy in “a police state.” Gen. Musharraf has “shot himself in the foot” by alienating Bhutto, said _The New York Times_ in an editorial (free registration).

Washington was banking on the power-sharing agreement between the two leaders struck before Bhutto’s recent return from exile “would be the key to Pakistan’s transition back to democracy.”

Please, said Fatima Bhutto, the former prime minister’s niece, in the _Los Angeles Times_ (free registration). The “twice disgraced” former leader was perfectly willing to share power with a

dictator until Musharraf declared martial law and handed her an opportunity to pretend she’s the “savior of democracy.” Now Bhutto is considering forming an alliance with another former

prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, said Ed Morrissey in his _Captain’s Quarters_ blog, and that’s a “bad sign.” Sharif represents allies of the Taliban. Looks like “chaos may be just around the

corner.” A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com