Sharif is Back, But Who Backs Sharif?
At first glance, it would appear that Musharraf's state of emergency/coup cubed is beginning to disintegrate. Now the man he ousted, Nawaz Sharif, is back, quite probably at the behest of the Western powers.
On the other hand, this may well be beneficial to Musharraf. Both Sharif and Bhutto are tainted by their years in power during the 1990s, which saw corruption and economic degradation - not to mention some nasty dodginess involving the ISI and some chaps calling themselves the Taliban. Very many Pakistanis were glad to see the back of Sharif - Musharraf himself was only too happy to oblige. Sharif is one of the few people who makes him look good.
And in fact, just as Musharraf has toyed with the constitution in order to stand for election while in uniform (though he now says he will shed it), both Sharif and Bhutto will also need some constitutional jiggery-pokery to allow them to stand for third terms. Technically not one of the three should be up for office. In the greater scheme of things, this puts the 'democrats' in the tricky position of looking like they are playing Musharraf's own unfair little game.
Instead of strengthening democracy, Sharif's return in fact weakens the chances of a strong mandate for the opposition. Surely he can't join up with his arch enemy Benazir Bhutto? Thus the opposition vote could be split between Sharif's PML-N (or whatever he leads these days) and the PPP, allowing Musharraf's PML-Q to dominate.
Finally, a question no-one seems to be asking: where is the new blood? Why does Pakistan have to bring back tired old figures such as Sharif and Bhtto? Why is there no-one strong enough to rise up and challnge Musharraf by themselves without the awkward legacy of history weighing them down?
BBC NEWS | South Asia | Ex-PM Sharif returns to Pakistan
"I am here to play my role and also make my own efforts to rid the country of dictatorship," Mr Sharif said.
He refused to say whether his party would boycott upcoming elections, saying that the decision would be made by an alliance of opposition parties including his own.
