There’s no shortage of crises facing Pakistan’s new leaders as their parliament convenes its first regular session on Thursday: an economic downturn, a crippling shortage of electricity, skyrocketing inflation — the price of bread has nearly doubled — and a rampant crime surge. Clashes between pro-government lawyers and supporters of President Pervez Musharraf in Karachi Wednesday left seven people dead. And moves to reinstate the independent judiciary sacked by Musharraf last November could bring new turmoil — Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry could push for Musharraf’s ouster on the grounds that his reelection was unconstitutional. And if he overturns the blanket amnesty granted to politicians charged with corruption, at least one key leader of the new ruling coalition, Benazir Bhutto’s widower Asif Ali Zardari, could face renewed investigation. Aryn Baker (’01) reports for TIME.

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