Masopher's Mind

Pakistan stumbles along the road to democracy as the elections that were predicted by Opposition to be flawed and filled with irregularities…were won by the Opposition! Now that was a surprise! Here too the PPP leadership threatened regional security by wanting to “take it to the streets” if they did not get their way. The Judiciary still is not getting its chance to flex its muscles. With Musharraf it was easy to befuddle the military man with talk of constitution. Now with both Sharif and the not-better half of Bhutto at the reigns one could expect a quick return to Tribalism, Sharia law and good old fashioned beheadings so that the constant flow of bombers in Pakistan may be curtailed. Law and democracy; two things highly incompatible with Pakistani way of life will not be any time soon. Here too a power sharing deal might be useful, so that everyone benefits from the misappropriated aid, drug money and oil pipeline deals. And of course (for I don’t want to be cynical) all three men do what the best for their failed state. Political enemies should be last on their agenda. Defeated though he is by his own attempts at legitimacy, Musharraf is still a powerful force in Pakistan. He is trusted in the military. Powerful also in that he can safely draw the fire of the judiciary and militants while Saudi backed Sharif and (hopefully still) US and UK backed Zardari play power games to gain influence over the region. With India happily growing to the East and Pashtun-Taliban sliding in from the South and West, there is something worth fighting for and that is peace.