Interesting (if true) article on today’s Financial Times:
Asif Ali Zardari, the leading contender for the presidency of nuclear-armed Pakistan, was suffering from severe psychiatric problems as recently as last year, according to court documents filed by his doctors.
The widower of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was diagnosed with a range of serious illnesses including dementia, major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder in a series of medical reports spanning more than two years.
Now, I don’t know how true, or serious, these statements are. But if they are, such an individual would not be a person that one would want in charge of a country that seems to be heading towards serious instability as Pakistan seems to be. It will be interesting to see whether these documents become a factor in the emerging Pakistani presidential race. As an aside though, I do wonder whether Zardari’s role as ‘proxy’ for his son in his party will enable him to duck this problem by allowing him to claim that he will just be a figurehead? Especially given that his role in Pakistani politics is already similar…
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