Power without the people -Guardian editorial

If a deal is done between the Musharraf and Bhutto camps, it is by no means certain it will go through. Sharif is vociferously hostile, and could help turn Pakistani public opinion against it. Public opinion is a more weighty factor than it has been in the past. Musharraf's attempt six months ago to sack Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the supreme court chief justice, focused in a remarkable way the anger and unease many Pakistanis feel about how their country has been run. Chaudhry's resistance in turn led and shaped public opinion. The constitutional changes Musharaff and Benazir require may well end up before a supreme court which is very responsive to popular feeling. In a mood of popular empowerment unusual in Pakistan, it is that feeling which could make or break the political plans of Benazir and Musharraf.

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