Can Bhutto's Alliance Succeed?

The murderous blasts that rocked Benazir Bhutto's homecoming rally in Karachi today underscored the uncertainty of a successful return for the deposed Pakistani leader, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The Supreme Court offers dual threats: It could nullify Bhutto's amnesty on old corruption charges or void Pervez Musharraf's recent presidential victory, rendering pointless the power-sharing deal Bhutto negotiated with him.

The alliance, if successful, has its own pitfalls: Cozying up to pro-American Musharraf has alienated the middle class that supported Bhutto in the past as a left-of-center candidate. A national survey says Bhutto is less popular than Musharraf nemesis Nawaz Sharif, but her rural origins and lower-class deification of her father may propel her to PM of a coalition government. (More Benazir Bhutto stories.)