Adil Najam
This seems to have suddenly become a news-heavy day. Lal Masjid blast on teh one hand and now Musharraf-Benazir meetings. The News reports on this:
The second round of meeting between President General Pervez Musharraf and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is underway here, the reliable sources said. The first round of the meeting lasted for about lasted for 55 minutes and it was a short a meeting. The ISI chief, some personalities of Arab countries and western diplomats also attended the meeting, the other sources said. Although the details of the meeting were not issued, however, the reports said that Musharraf and Benazir discussed important issues including current political situation in Pakistan.
“If Musharraf-Benazir meeting has been held it could be the final round of PPP-government talks and it is hoped that this meeting will have long-term positive impact on the politics of Pakistan, said Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed while commenting on the meeting. Meanwhile, the reports said that Musharraf will also hold meeting with former Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Chief Minister Punjab Shahabaz Sharif in Saudi Arabia during the second leg of Musharraf’s visit. However, the PML (N) sources have rejected the reports of Musharraf-Nawaz meeting.
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Things are still too much in flux and too complicated to comment meaningfully on this. Much coming from the insta-pundits is still either the restatement of their already known positions that they now churn out as spin, or is entirely speculative. So, we will wait to see how the dust settles. But it is quite clear that the dust has been kicked and things are in flux. Abb ount kis karwat baithay ga?
In order to get a sense of the pulse of ATP on this issue we are asking the same poll question about a BB-Musharraf deal we did back in April. Let us see what you have to say now.
How can any body trust Mrs.Benazir to bring democracy to the countary, when she is herself “LIFE CHAIRPERSON” OF ppp.Isn’t that Dictatorial?
Movement - Phase II
by Ayaz Mir
The divorce from reality on the part of both Musharraf and Benazir couldn’t be greater, for they don’t seem to realize that if this summer’s events have proved anything it is that Pakistan, for all its failings, is no one’s private estate, not any more.
Times have changed. The post-March 9 movement was a watershed. As Aitzaz Ahsan rightly points out, and as Munir Malik lets no opportunity go by without making the same point, that the moment Musharraf announces that he is going to the present assemblies for another five-year presidential term, lawyers, backed by civil society, will come out on the roads once again, pushing the country into the throes of another agitation.
The responsibility for that will be on Musharraf’s shoulders. For all the good these assemblies have done, they have lost the right to exist. Not one soul in Pakistan, not even the members themselves, takes them seriously. What right do they have to foist Gen Musharraf on Pakistan for five more years? No greater mockery of the Constitution is conceivable. Yet this is what the Musharraf-Benazir deal is all about: self-interest triumphing over every other consideration.
The people of Pakistan may be guilty of many things – none greater than tolerating some of the biggest humbugs on the planet – but they don’t deserve what they have: military saviors who refuse to fade away even when their time is up; paladins of democracy eager to jump aboard sinking vessels; holy fathers dedicated to the cult of hypocrisy (amongst them, a Maulana Bluff-and-Diesel more slippery than an eel); and down south in Karachi a breed of fascism hailed by the powers-that-be as a model of respectability.
If it were up to these humbugs, we would be lost. But the legal community and the higher judiciary, civil society as a whole, newspapers and television channels – now come into their own – give the country hope.
Viqar Minai
“All the more reason for us not to put our trust in the people of Pakistan, and to heed Maulana’s advice”
Enjoyed reading your above comments. No comments from my side!
a parody:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ_uNmm7no8
In an exclusive interview to the Daily Times, Maulana
Fazlur Rehman has said that there is “no harm” in
BB-Musharraf deal if it was “done with all sincerity”.
He also expressed the following views in the same
interview:
. President Musharraf should be given “safe passage”
in his re-election bid in uniform, for he might impose
martial law if he fails to win political support for his
re-elction in uniform (Sheikh Rashid has also been
loudly hinting at this possibility lately)
. However, the opposition will not allow any General to
sieze power in the country
. MMA will win more seats in the NWFP and in Balochistan
in the coming elections; it will outright sweep the polls in
Punjab and Sindh
. As a result of which PPP and PML may be allowed to
form a coalition government at the center
. Gone are the days when masses pinned their hopes on
the generals to solve the problems of the country
I think this last point is extremely significant. All the more
reason for us not to put our trust in the people of Pakistan,
and to heed Maulana’s advice and allow the President “safe
passage” through his re-elction in uniform.
haerAN hUN ke dO TaKHnoN se kyA kyA sOchUN
Rabbani, Aitzaz and some other seem to form some other party or join some existing party. Not sure, but atleast I am sure that vetran ppp members are not supporting BB.
Adnan Siddiqi
“Turab bhai kidher ho?? *grin*”
The silence is everywhere. Not just your dear friend “Turab Bhai”.
See at the end of it all, every dictator is the same and thinks of his survival only. In the process, he takes people on a ride…. the likes of your good friend!
In Musharraf’s case I am taken by surprise. Didn’t a lot of people nickname him “Kamal Attaturk” of modern times..
Have you ever seen a spider trapped in his own web. It is a painful sight to watch it curl, twist and ultimately hang from a single strand of web. Sooner or later the house cleaner will take him down with a broom and flush him down for a quick disposal.
Here is the rub: Mush will doff the uniform by the year-end while BB’s PPP-P will support his presidential re-election. The quid pro quo is to allow BB to be third-time-lucky by striking down the current legislation that prohibits a third term PM and striking down all corruption and criminal charges against her and hubby Zardari. In addition, the concession of Mush’s uniform- BB will use as a PR ploy to try to fool everybody – for the third time! Is it a deal or a dheel or what? Election-Pak-Style. Wow!