Presidential Election held and Commander-in-chief won, and this is 21st century. Our ‘elected’ representatives have written a history, and we have just witnessed it. MQM arranged fireworks on the sea view, while Musharraf Lovers arranged a rally in Lahore, while PML-Q arranged a lavish dinner in Islamabad, while rest of the nation was either busy in ‘Tarawih’ or was immersed in watching Star Plus.
The only advantage this election has done to the nation that it has terminated the confusion, if there was any and have exposed many faces. In the new troika, somewhat like 1988, there would be three beds of power; president Musharraf, prime minister Benazir and army chief Kayani, if Supreme Court doesn’t give any surprise. After the “Muk Muka” Ordinace, Benazir has become as clean as baby and they would find a way to make her third time prime minister. Fazl-ur-Rehman will be looking after the interest of government in NWFP and Balochistan, while remaining in the federal government. Qazi Hussain Ahmad, Imran Khan and Nawaz Sharif would form a weak but genuine opposition. There are very little chances of Nawaz Sharif to come back to Pakistan before the general (or are they general’s) elections.
After yet another failure of opposition to mobilise people on the occassion of presidential elections, its unlikely that they will be able to do it again in general elections. The basic reason for this is the internal skirmished and contours within the opposition. When nation sees the deal of Benazir and the hypocrisy of Fazl-ur-Rehman, they don’t want to come out on the roads on opposition call.
Once again nation is looking forward towards the Supreme Court, as they dont see any genuine leaders in the rows of opposition. Had Nawaz Sharif not confessed to his 5-year agreement with the Saudi government, he might have proved to be the spearhead leader of opposition, but he saw what nation thought of him on 10th of September. Other lame opposition leaders like Chaudhry Nisar, Raja Zafar-ul-haq and other don’t have the muscle or competency to ignite a nation-wide movement. It take lots of guts and charisma and hardwork. The crisis of leadership in opposition is likely to allow a free run for Musharraf, Benazir, PML-Q and MQM.
Right now, after the deal of Benazir with the present regime, and the international interests regarding the war on terrorism, it would be foolish to expect any hope of real democracy in Pakistan. Whether you vote in the upcoming elections or you don’t vote, the deal has been struck. The destiny of the nation has been written.
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