The moral ground

It does seem that there is a very powerful and convincing group within the ambit of the power circle, which manages to convince the leadership into committing these blunders. And time and again they fall for it. Musharraf with his sacking of the CJ. Nawaz for his sacking of the COAS. None of these moves was necessary, and all met with disaster. This quest for the presidency is totally uncalled for and has polarized the country and may or may not succeed. If it fails the consequences would be horrendous. The PPP has some very intelligent people in the party, surely they should not allow such advice to be followed.

What then are the advantages? The PPP has the government in the centre. They should get on with providing us a better Pakistan to live in. Attaining a prosperous Pakistan would get you re-elected every time. Asif himself is a very shrewd communicator, and his skills should be employed in negotiating with the tribesmen for that is the single most important issue facing Pakistan today, and of the region. With 300,000 refugees from Bajaur sitting in Peshawar it is already a huge humanitarian problem.

His dealing with Maulana Fazlur Rehman in 1988/90 had everyone dazzled, and the Maulana was his ever since then. Now the world is a much more dangerous place with the Maulana's area in the centre of it. This will be Asif's greatest achievement, personal, and for Pakistan.

The writer is a political analyst