WASHINGTON, Jan 6: President Pervez Musharraf appears to have weathered the storm created by the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, the Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday.

The former general was slow and cautious in reacting to the crisis, “methodically taking a series of steps aimed at shoring up his position, at least in the short term,” the report said.

“He remained largely out of sight in the first days after the assassination, then resurfaced to coolly rebuff opposition calls for his resignation and insist that no one in his government bore blame for her death.”

Mr Musharraf deferred parliamentary elections to give himself more time to deal with the situation and invited Scotland Yard to assist in the investigation, hoping that it would placate the critics who blame his government for the murder.

The newspaper noted that so far there were no signs that Pakistan’s powerful military was wavering in its support for the man who was its chief until five weeks ago. At a meeting of corps commanders last week, senior generals did not appear to be seeking to distance themselves from him, at least not yet.

The report, however, pointed out that some analysts believe since the assassination, President “Musharraf’s authority appeared frayed as never before.”

The analysts interviewed for this article said that while in the short term, there seems to be no immediate threat to him, the president is “increasingly regarded by his own allies as a liability,” which may make it difficult for him to survive for long.

The newspaper observed that before the assassination, many expected the vote to yield a parliament not dominated by any one party. Now, for the first time since he seized power in a coup in 1999, Mr Musharraf runs the risk of facing a legislature prepared to defy him.

But LAT also noted that the party likely to benefit from the sympathy vote – the PPP – has its own problems. Ms Bhutto’s death left a leadership void in her party, said the report, blaming Ms Bhutto for this internal crisis.

“In life, reluctant to yield the limelight, she had sidelined rivals such as Aitzaz Ahsan, the country’s most prominent opposition lawyer, who remains under house arrest at Mr Musharraf’s behest, but wields enormous moral authority,” the report said.