The President holds a symbolic position in the country. For Mr. Zardari to become the President of Pakistan is cynical to say the least. It is unthinkable that a man with his past should be made a successor to Quaid-e-Azam, Mohammed Ali Jinnah. The political shenanigans of his kind have landed us in trouble previously and provided dictators with the excuse to take over. Why are we knowingly headed in the same direction again? Will we never learn? -PROF KHWAJA M. LATIF, Sialkot, via e-mail, August 31.