On Saturday, the Pakistani parliament will likely elect Asif Ali Zardari to be the next president of Pakistan - Mr. Ten Percent will become the top man. And if his run-up to the presidency is anything like his term in office, the country is in for a wild ride. He has tossed aside coalition partners, been outed as a mental patient prone to dementia and depression, banned the Taliban — only to give them breathing room a day later — and sparked unending debate about the merit of desperate men in desperate times. In the past few weeks, Zardari has demonstrated exactly what kind of leadership he is capable of, and it’s a troubling comment on Pakistani democracy that despite his performance, his victory this weekend is a sure shot.

The very nomination of Zardari as a presidential candidate triggered the collapse of the shaky coalition comprising the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). After weeks of wrangling over how and when to restore judges deposed by Pervez Musharraf and the appointment of his successor, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif split with the PPP once Zardari’s name was put forward for the presidency.

Initially, Sharif and Zardari had agreed that they would jointly nominate a neutral candidate. They had also agreed to prioritise the restoration of the judges, an issue that Zardari continues to waffle on. Sharif, meanwhile, has been left out in the cold. In fact, the manner in which Zardari has manipulated Sharif and his party — reneging on promises, provoking PMLN cabinet ministers to quit the coalition, only to placate them later — has been the most telling, and worrying, aspects of his recent exploits.

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