In the wake of Pervez Musharraf’s resignation the Pakistan Policy Blog gives us a rundown of prospective candidates for the presidency of Pakistan. The interim president is Muhammad Mian Soomro, whose son is an old college chum of Sen. Barack Obama’s, and he’ll serve until a replacement is elected by a simple majority vote of parliament.
PPB’s list of possible candidates is substantial, starting with Asif Ali Zardari, Benazir Bhutto’s widower, and other members of his family. The list continues with politicians from various provinces and ethnic groups, retired judges, and popular opposition leaders. Few if any of these are exactly household names over here.
But one is more familiar. Under the category “National Heroes” is Abdul Qadeer Khan, A. Q. Khan, generally considered the father of the Pakistani nuclear program and by most reckonings the world’s foremost nuclear proliferator.
Now there’s a name to conjure with!
