General Strike

Even by Pakistan's cynical political standards, last week's selection of a new Prime Minister seemed a sordid affair. This was an arrangement rigged outside Parliament. It was struck in a jail cell, in lengthy telephone calls to exiled politicians wanting a comeback, and with the usual allegations of bribes and threats directed at legislators. None of this offers much hope for the start of President Pervez Musharraf's new brand of what he calls "guided democracy."

This wasn't how Musharraf had planned it. After the Oct. 10 general elections, he hoped to introduce an obedient Parliament that would dress...