The New Bedfellows

You are neither a Babar nor a Mufti !!! You think a corrupt leader could be the best choice of primeirship???

I think if BB will continue its deal with General , she will lose more day by day. NS+IK+JI ( Right wing alliance ) will grab maximum seats provided SC grants permission for landing of Mian's and its respected by the sitting government.

SC inshallah allow NS to land...

the baighairat Dictator..and Biaghairat BB will run from pakistan ..soon....

Author,

You convinced me ... Benazir has my vote!!!

#2 Posted by dawa-i-dil,

Both of the brothers will land soon ... and you'll see what happens. I doubt BB can ever set foot in this country ever again. (Sorry ... author).

Can't, for once, we as citizens of Pakistan stop being analysts and start being partisans. I am not asking to be partisans for some party but partisan for ourselves. Can't we just, as a Pakistani tell this corrupt ruling elite that the stench of their arrogance and corruption has become so overwhelming that it is becoming hard for us to to breath. No matter how much one puts lipstick on this pig but interferrence of Napk fouj in the state of Pakistan is un-acceptable; their occupation is unacceptable; and their corrupting the politicians is unacceptable.

Deep down inside my heart I am convinced that nothing good can come out of elections even if they are held under the direct supervision of God. The reason is that the very foundation on which we are trying to build our institutions is hollow and crooked. It is hollow because it has no roots in the people. It does not represent the ethics, values, and wishes of the people. Elections is a vehicle through which a westernized corrupt elite only changes faces.Unless we destry this corrupt system from its root Pakistan cannot win its freedom from our proxy colonial rulers; proxy of Weste; custodians of western interests.

Fukking elections are not democracy.

#5 Posted by Urstruly on August 6, 2007 6:42:59 am


Can't we just, as a Pakistani tell this corrupt ruling elite that the stench of their arrogance and corruption


The heat of white phosphorus is more powerful than the stench of corruption..

in any case, if you're planning on telling the paki elite anything, try raza.com for US-Pakistan calls..a paki friend recommends it for good rates and decent service..

look pal...benazir has been annointed by the US government..so it's not like mushy has a choice..he doesn't want IRS agents going over bilal mushy's books with a microscope, does he?

This horrible woman is a security risk for Pakistan

she is just plaesing her MASTERS...

she is one of the most corrupt and wicked lady of pakistan...
and i also agree..she will ever dare to enter Pakistan..10's of corruption cases are here in courts files ..waiting for her...

A MESSAGE FOR ALL BEZAMIRS

zaalim ko jo na rokay vo shaamil hai zulm meiN
qaatil ko jo na Tokay vo qaatil ke saath hai

ham sar-ba-kaf uTThay haiN ke haq fatehyaab ho
keh do usay jo lashkar-e-baatil ke saath hai





Due to rains the white paint over Lal Masjid washed away, revealing its original color.

Mufti Saheb:

ADVANTAGE NAWAZ SAHRIF!

I think that you have got it all wrong. Things are moving in Pakistan at a breakneck speed, but if I were a betting man, I would place my bet on Nawaz Sharif at this point. Here are my reasons:

1. Benazir has screwed up badly. Under her personal compulsions, she has not realised that Musharraf has become so unpopular that any alliance with him is going to hurt her more than help her.

2. She seems to have overestimated her dictatorial hold over her party. There is a mini exodus from her party, all kinds of anonymous rebellious statements are coming out. If Aitezas Hussain joins the fray against her, it would be all over for her, at least in Punjab.

3. As if alliance with Musharraf was not enough of an albatross, she has also the support of the US, which has never been as unpopular in Pakistan as now. And she seems to be unabashedly parading this support by making trips to Washington and advertising her special relationships with leaders there.

4. Her strength has been the very people who have led the campaign for the Chief Justice. How can they support her after tasting blood in their fight against Musharraf?

5. Nawaz, on the other hand, has been playing his cards very well. He has been consistent in his opposition to Musharraf and has made joint alliance with all those opposed to the dictator. He has the additional halo of the martyr as he was the victim of military coup.

6. He has steadfastly refused to support the US actions.

7. Members of the PML (Q) have already started deserting the sinking ship of Musharraf and coming back to his party.

8. Javed Hashmi's release has boosted the morale of his troops. If he wins his case in the Supreme Court for his reentry, he will make a triumphant entry to Pakistan.


So, get ready for another term for the "vadi tind" under the new wig.

The whole idea for the creation of Pakistan is based on suspicion, elitism, closet bigotry, and on the concept of take-whatever-you-wish-by-force!

All Pakistani politicos – starting with the MAJ – have always sold out – only at different levels!

The MAJ sold his soul and his better judgment to the lure of power!

His successors sold their individual integrity, their principles, their allegiance, their values, and their everything-else that they could lay hands on. Pakistani politicos hold a world record in selling out the fastest. They should make a claim for a gold medal in that field!

That country has conducted a wholesale ethnic cleansing of its population! And its inheritors have absolutely lacked the guts to even admit it!

Such cowards! Such a bigoted, bigoted lot of hypocritical cowards!!!!

When Pakistani “parties” talk about secularism – they have no clue what it is about!

An “Islamic” entity – by all known standards of definition – can not be “secular” – it is an absolute oxymoron based on simple rules of language!

The creation of the country of Pakistan was the greatest fraud in recent times pulled on a gullible population! In any kind of set-up (especially as witnessed in the present day land of the Pure), a minority usually lags behind and tries to catch up by working hard!

The fraudulent “logic” of discrimination against a “minority” which was used to break up India is the same specious logic which can always be used to break ANY country apart.

There is no conceptual difference between the India of pre-partition days and present day (for example) USA! Yes, there IS some discrimination in the USA now against minorities, against blacks, against hispanics, against you-name-it…!

Most of these minorities shall forever stay “permanent” minorities! Does that mean that that the US blacks start asking for a separate country? Does that mean that US Hispanics start campaigning for a separate country?

Will US muslims use the same logic from pre-partition India and agitate for a separate country within USA? Answer it honestly!

The bottomline is, when you are truly a citizen of a country by heart and without reservations, you play down your identity as an ethnic group and become a (strengthening) part of the whole – you do not try to break the country apart!

For if you do, there is no reason why the cycle can not repeat itself at different levels – as seen in the current land of the Pure! It does not matter who is at the helm.

It is the mindset…

Stupid!

amrika ne kutta pala
wardi wala wardi wala

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070805/capt.lhr10208051316.pa kistan_us_lhr102.jpg

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#14 Dawa,

You are a disgrace to the high quality interacts that we are normally used to on these boards! :)

I got to return to my janitorial duties, so will get to your points later (if I feel like it).

However, remember this!

MAJ was a vamp who swallowed the blood of millions of innocent victims of partition in his personal quest for power...

...and he did not even burp!

They do not make harramis of that caliber any more!

Because Allah mian perhaps took one look at what he had created back then and said the following...

"Uff, tauba! How the heck could I goof up so?!"

dost-mittar #10:....there is some merit to your analysis.....though it is hard to tell......these elections could be like none before, due to the wide spread of media access, throughout pakistan...in addition, for the first time (at least in my lifetime), there is an independent judiciary.......

....hard to tell what will happen.....

...the extremist vs. moderate debate is limited to the chattering classes.....the normal voters vote on other lines...my guess would be less than 20% of the pakistani chowk crowd actually votes in pakistani elections...

......nawaz sharif has lost 75% of his party.....and in pakistan, people vote for individuals and not for party ideologies......benazir, still, has around 75% of her party intact.....ppp will sweep if bb doesn't hobnob with musharraf......

......however, if ppp sweeps, without a deal with musharraf, benazir has a problem......she will be outside pakistan and under the new laws, will not be able to be pm, or even participate in the elections.....so someone else from ppp will have to become the pm....who will that be...and once that happens, what would stop that person from taking over ppp and kicking out benazir....

.......hence she has to make a deal with musharraf; if for no other reason, then to ensure she heads the ppp, even if it means ppp loses out to nawaz sharif....

so, her personal political survival (within her own party, also) depends on musharraf, and his depends on her......hence they need each other.......in the process, ppp, army as an institution, and pakistan lose out.....

....what will be interesting will be to see the reaction of her senior party members and voters.....aitezaz ahsan (not hussain), in the end will stick with her.....bhutto name is too strong.....they are nothing without it, in the long run......

however, what will the ppp voters do......if they vote her in, sooner or later, she will turn on musharraf and will kick him out......i think she wants to enter the pm position, and defang musharraf as a president......then in about two to three years, musharraf is gone.....

......the americans will be pushing musharraf as their choice.....however, he is in big trouble......according to paksitani law, a coup is treason and this carries the death penalty.....so if he is out, he could get charged with treason.......

interesting times.......my guess is that musharraf takes off his uniform, gets his sins forgiven by the parliament....benazir becomes pm and within a few years, gives him a quite exit to boston........

#16 ".......my guess is that musharraf takes off his uniform, gets his sins forgiven by the parliament....benazir becomes pm and within a few years, gives him a quite exit to boston........ "

Mian, wasn't it you who gave us all a history lesson on how no Pakistani leader has left in a smooth benign way? Why this turnaround now? I think that the chances of the Mush man making it to Boston are similar to the Saddam man making his escape to Jordan, before the current Iraq war. I think his goose will be cooked in the coming days....literally...He wont give up the uniform unless he first lands in Saudi Arabia and sublets the mian's summer home before making that announcement...

Re: # 16 Dost, Romair

Musharraf will neither take his uniform off nor he will ever quit, since he knows very well what Amaerica does to dictators when they lose power. The fact of the matter is that Bezamir will not come to pakistan at all, because that will end the leverage that Musharaf has over PPP. But on the other hand PPP is now going to replace the sirakri moulvis of MMA who have served their purpose well. So PPP is the new MMA. Mushraf will get himself "elected" through the existing assemblies, PP will support the vote in Parliament and if need be, will help ammend the so-called constitution so that the dicattor cannot be backstabbed by Supreme Court. Keep in mind that even though the SC is "independent" now but it is still subservient to 2/3rd vote in Paliament.

Bezamir, in turn will have all cases removed against her and her husband (which includes murder of her brother). Their wealth will be released and transferred to American banks from Swiss accounts.

But there will be consequnces for that. The existing civil war will intensify against military occupation. Na Pak fouj will try to crush opposition thru murders and kidnappings, as it has been happening for the past eight years. In the next year or so Mushsraf will have to prove his usefulness or otherwise he will be eliminated. At that point Bezamir will enter Pakistan "victoriously" as a replacement for Musharaf.

Nawaz Sharif does not have it in him to lead a popular revolt. Because he does not want to change the status quo of a ruling elite. He is just waiting to sell his mother to the right buyer as he comes along.

THere is no hope except the Iranian way.

Re: # 19

I think JI finally stands discredited among people of Pakistan at all levels. They have served their purpose for the empire as well. I do not think that they have a political future any more. Therefore, I do not think people of MQM of Karachi and Hyderabad have any choice but to stick with altaf, and altaf has no choice but to stick with dictator. Altaf also has to leave Britain before the muder cases of 5/12 against him get more complicated. Guess where is he gonna go?

{"Uniform is the thing of the past."}

Mufti Sahib,
I will agree with only this statement that you have made. Even Mushy is encouraging all those who should wear uniforms to discard them for security reasons - or rather personal safety reasons. :)

While DM Sahib thinks that Nawaz Besharif will benefit, I think that only the Mullahs can come out on top after this stupid and desperate act by Mushy. While going down, he is taking down Altaf Payee with him. The people of Karachi and Hyderabad support MQM not because it stands for secularism. They support MQM because it ostensibly represents them against the violent and murderous ways of Bezamir Bhutni of PPP and Nawaz Besharif of ML (N).

In the next elections, if MQM follows Altaph Payee or AH in endorsing the Mushy/BB pact, the people of Karachi and Hyderabad will abandon MQM and go for JI, which is the 2nd most powerful party in those cities.

Both BB and NS will not find any votes in NWFP and Baluchistan. Punjab will be split between BB and NS, while Sindh will be split between JI and PPP. Even if BB wins, even in a fair and honest election, people will say Mushy rigged the vote and the Mullahs will take to the streets. The Paki Army is by now fed up with Mushy and the unpleasant frequency of having to kill fellow Pakis all over the country. Mushy is gone, BB won't make a comeback, NS is considered a corrupt tyrant, leaving the Mullahs in charge of Pakistan.

Nothing will change in Pakistan. Musharraf will remain a President supported by Benazir Bhutto and will be backstabbed as and when Benzair Bhutto thinks the time is ripe and approval from amreeka has been obtained. Then she will continue part-III of her rule of loot-khasoot. Till another dictator on a shiny tank will overthrow her to improve the lot of common man and promise to return to barracks in 90 days- 3 months- 3 years-or till fired by amreeca. So keep on philosophising about the future but that's how the cookie crumbles. Learn to live with corrupt RULERS of both civilian and army variety.

bulleya#16:

Thanks for correcting about Aitezaz Ahsan's name. My memory is becoming less dependable by the day. :(

"......nawaz sharif has lost 75% of his party.....and in pakistan, people vote for individuals and not for party ideologies......benazir, still, has around 75% of her party intact.....ppp will sweep if bb doesn't hobnob with musharraf......"

As you said, the proliferation of media, esp. electonic media, may have changed these things. In any case, individuals too can read which way the wind is blowing, that is why some of the PML leaders are coming back to Nawaz.

PPP is, of course, hobnobbing with Musharraf. The rider, of course, is that she can read the papers and may retract from any understanding she has reached with Musharraf. If she does that skilfully, she may be able to restore some of her credibility.

Urstruly#18:

There is merit in what you say. A civilian govt. may try Mush for treason, especially if Nawaz Sharif comes to power. Even if BB comes to power, there is no guarantee that she will keep her promise once he gives up his uniform. The best course for Musharraf would be to join his son in Boston before he hands over power to someone else.

Salim#19:

You are ignoring the fact that NS is aligning himself with the Mullas. He has never supported Mush's policies in the Frontier areas and can therefore win there with Mullas' support. I wouldn't be surprised if JI joins him as an ally. But if blood is thicker than water, than Karachi and Hyderabad will in all probability stick with Mush and MQM.

mushy, altaf and ppp ikk paasay
ganja, mullay te niksuk doojay paasay.

dullabhatti#24:

That would be a good slogan for Nawaz. :)

Seriously, if Nawaz has any smart people in his group, they will make sure that the next election is fought on a single agenda: "You are either with Musharraf or against him?"

the feudals of pakistan.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/trial/open/aip/3797

Urstruly#18 : You have made more predictions than even nostroduamus would have dared to make, based on very little than one-line assumptions, and including 4 mutually contradictory predictions (i.e. your predictions #1 and #2 are contradicted by predictions #8 and #9 below). And based on this shabby "analysis and projections", you seek to replace musharraf rule with mullah rule in Pakistan (i.e. when you say at the end "THere is no hope except the Iranian way.")!! With intellectuals like you speaking out on behalf of maulvis, there is no reason to be concerned that we will have a uniformed dictator replaced by a bearded dictator. (Given your love for dictators, perhaps you should move to Cuba, where a Uniformed and Bearded dictator will be at your service).

1. Musharraf will neither take his uniform off nor he will ever quit.

2. Bezamir will not come to pakistan at all.

3. Mushraf will get himself "elected" through the existing assemblies, PP will support the vote in Parliament and...

4. ... if need be, will help ammend the so-called constitution so that the dicattor cannot be backstabbed by Supreme Court.

5. Bezamir, in turn will have all cases removed against her and her husband (which includes murder of her brother).

6. Their wealth will be released and transferred to American banks from Swiss accounts.

7. The existing civil war will intensify against military occupation.

8. In the next year or so Mushsraf will have to prove his usefulness or otherwise he will be eliminated.

9. At that point Bezamir will enter Pakistan "victoriously" as a replacement for Musharaf.

Re: # 28

Re: # 28
The compare India Gandhi with General is to call Tigress with goat.Though the grand daughter of man of peace mr. M K Gandhi aka mohamta she had no genes of peace. General is smarter than her he thinks and thinks very cautious to fault. He was about give Kashmir to NS but NS got jittery when general started aiming his nuclear missiles to obliterate india.He lost his courage at last moment and did things he did not wanted to and concede to NS. By nature there are two types he is very cautious and reactive. When he was forced he kicked NS but Kagil Battle was already gone and Kashmir slipped. He could have just kisked NS at war time as at that time he was hero of ALL pakistanies and as general how snatched Kashmir. Same way he said he will not allow BB and NS to come back. He is still army boss and army boss is pakistan he has lost is all "IJJAT" by going to see BB against whom he was always saying bad thing. It is liking man claiming moral behaviour and then hiding under burkha to vist bad vice trading place. It would have been fine he could have acted as a "Man" and gone to see openly former primeminister. By his denial of meeting by both sides is low level drama to obvious. The general is far intelligent than Mrs. Gandhi but too much thinking make him weak.
He was talking against Gazi Brother co. for long time but all talk and no action. When they kidnapped chinese comfort women when leader od china called he lost courage at 11th hour. Again too much thinking what china will do ? China will do nothing , China has more interest in Pakistan than 6 chinese professional expert women. They last year hanged 100,000 people for crimes. Again too much thinking made him weak.
Indira though granddaughter of big man and daughter of great man was NOT EDUCATED. THIS WAS ADVANTAGE OVER BRITISH ARMY TRAINED Y.Khan. She always thought but he was not "rethinking person" to make her weak. Once she made up mind it was easy as she was not rethink and was like tigress. Tigress does not think when she feels her babies are threatened. general is democracy minded she was dictetor typenot thinking type. She told her general to bring plan to cut y.khan to size. First general came he said it can not be done. She said I have not asked your opinion and dismissed him. She asked other general and said I sit here to listen to get answer say it was done, not listening to excuses. One general said USA and China will attack us what we will do, then she said general if do not know what to do find other job.
It is wrong to consider thoughtful general with Gandhi who was not intelluctual type.

Romair

My money is still on Benazir (=PPP) and Musharaff (=Army) coalition (= power sharing). I also feel this will provide Pakistan stability to restore power to legislative arm of the democracy. Musharraff is a very smart cookie. As a leader, in my rankings, he is there with Indira Gandhi - fighter and survivor, with Pakistan in his heart. Obviously he wants power, which leader does not.

"Hau hai, general saab aap itney payaray insaan haiN, ayse baat mut karayN," Pinky whispered in Musharraf's ear as she gently slid her chin from behind his ear all the way down his shoulders, hugging her exhausted VIP client as she spread herself over him while he lay flat on his stomach.

The tired old soldier had poured his heart out to Pinky when their sweatbeads were mingling between two skins that pushed and slid against one another.

Pinky was not her real name, of course. No one knew her real identity. His dear old friend, Arifa Lazeez, had brought the girl over from Dubai and told him that she had caught him a real prize, a "Behtareen Bitch" as she called the poor tramp. She boosted his sagging vigor which he loved and he wanted to hold on to. It is such a delicious joy. Life is worthless if the vigor is gone.

The general wanted to heed good advice and wished that he could work out a deal where:

1) He would get a three year extension on the term of his military service, and a simultaneous secure tenure as army chief.

2) Nominate a caretaker government and have it approved by parliamentary vote. After that:

3) He agreed to dissolve Parliament and relinquish the office of President himself, giving the new interim government to get a new census and then hold elections.

4) The deal was also to include Judiciary approval.

This would give ALL the players at least something and it would still keep him safe, if only he could keep his mouth shut and his paws out of other women's skirts.

...SR

anil: "Obviously he wants power, which leader does not. "

No real leader wants power indefinitely, as Musharraf wants.
History is full of examples: After winning the Revolutionary War, e.g., George Washington refused offers to become life President from the US Congress, realizing this would set a bad precedent. Same for Sherman after the Civil War who famously said "if nominated I will not run, if elected I will not serve" when he was being pressured to become US President. In India, Gandhi refused any official position, preferring to apply moral pressure. And these are leaders in politics.

The real leaders of humanity are not even in politics - these are indivduals who have made the real contributions (i.e. scientists, engineers, doctors, thinkers, everyday law abiding citizens who set an example for the next generation by facing life in a courageous manner).

Mush and BB are midgets compared to the real leaders of Pakistan - people like Edhi, Asma Jehangir, and of course the Chief Justice and the counteless journalists (some "disappeared) who are standing up for the rights of the Pakistani people. These are the true patriots who will be long remembered after the midgets are forgotten.

Zeemax, Dawa, and others, you can badmouth India as much as you want, I do not care because I am just too happy at the news that...

Mian Mushy is coughing up mian Dawood!

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Dawood_Tiger_Memon_in_ISI_cust ody/ rssarticleshow/2260818.cms

If true, here is a great big thank you to...

The only person in the world with the courage and ability to make it happen...

GWB

Thank you, Mr. President! Bravo!

Let me try that one more time!

Zeemax, Dawa, and others, you can badmouth India as much as you want, I do not care because I am just too happy at the news that...

Mian Mushy is coughing up mian Dawood!

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Dawood_Tiger_Memon_in_ISI_cust ody/rssarticleshow/2260818.cms

If true, here is a great big thank you to...

The only person in the world with the courage and ability to make it happen...

GWB

Thank you, Mr. President! Bravo!

(PS to chowk-staff: Dear chowkstaff, please bring back the Preview ability!)

Okay the link is...

timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Dawood_Tiger_Memon_in_ISI_custody/rssarticl eshow/2260818.cms

I wish chowk had not screwed up the interface so bad!

#35 (add-on)

The last part of the URL is "rssarticleshow/2260818.cms", the extra white space (which messes it up if you copy and paste from #35) comes courtesy of chowk's "brilliant" programmers! Do not thank me for it.

August 6, 2007
The Editor,
Daily Dawn,
Lahore


Dear Sir;
In the year 1967, King Faisal of KSA on a state visit to United States when he arrived in New York to attend a reception to be given in his honour by the Mayor of New York. On his arrival in the city a team of Journalists visited him to interview him before the reception. A question was put to him by one of the Journalists as to what he thought of the country Israel. King Faisal without any hesitation abruptly replied that to his country Israel was an “enemy” country. There was such a big uproar against his remarks in the Jewish controlled press and media that the Mayor of New York cancelled the invitation given to King Faisal earlier. King Faisal immediately cancelled his rest of the tour of United States and returned to KSA. According to the AP news agency report, the other day the Republican presidential candidate of United States Mr. Tom Tancredo addressing a town hall meeting in the state of Iowa, in reference to the possible terrorist attack on United States is believed to have said that “if it is up to me, we are going to explain that an attack on this homeland of that nature would be followed by an attack on the holy sites of Makkah and Madina”. It is very sad to see that no leader among the Muslim countries of the world has so far been able to respond to Mr. Tancredo’s savage threat to the most sacred and dear places of over a billion Muslims in the world, the way King Faisal had.

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#37 Boomer

You are talking 1967.

Need I remind you, that was two whole generations ago. The world has gotten a lot further since then.

Let me provide the following lines of a poem by H. R. Bachchan (the poet):

Jo beet gayi, so baat gayi
Maana ki ek sitaara tha
Teri aankhoN ka pyara tha
Per bolo toote taaroN per
Kab ambaar shoak manaata hai?!
Jo beet gayi, so baat gayi!

In other words, the Saudi way is history!

Gone with the wind!

(So, hold your own, please! :) )

#39 (add-on)

And don't worry Boomer, life will become a lot simpler.

Just learn to love our President.

The one, the only!

The G.W.B.!

Make him the new sitaara of your eyes, and you will feel a LOT better! :)

DUMP THE WIERDOS!
THE BEARDOS!

If free and fair elections are held, I see Pakistan going pretty much the same way as India- hung parliament with no clear majority to a single party (as opposed to a group). The 2004 general elctions in India didn't see any clear trend although it was made out to be a vote against "Shining India" or pro "Aam Aadmi" as the INC spindoctors had it. Rather it was a series of almost completely unrelated trends in different states.

Same I think wud get repeated here with each major region- Rural Punjab, Urban Punjab, NWFP, B'stan, Rural Sindh and Urban Sindh each showing a different preference altogether. I am sure Pakistanis on the ground wud have a better idea so I will not hazard who wins in what province.

Having said that, a hung parliament may prove no worse than it has in India. We have had no single party majority since 1989 and no one has been worse for that.

Regards



Tahmed sahib,

(In India, Gandhi refused any official position, preferring to apply moral pressure. )

Wait till Manto mian reads this.

anil #: ...your analysis is correct .....if your target audience is barrack obama!!......however, it is quite incorrect, if the target audience is the pakistani public......

....musharraf and bb have spent around eight years in power....even if jinnah were to spend eight years in power, he would become redundant and a, "chala huwa sikka..".....

.....however, they both need each other personally, at the same time they want to kick each other out......the day musharraf takes off his uniform, he is a nobody.....he has no constituency, no political support, and will have no guns at his disposal.....retired generals are a sad lot, in pakistan.....they live in the glory of their past powers, with nothing new to offer....at best, the grovel at the feet of the executive, for govt. jobs......

.......similarly the day some other member of the ppp - other than benazir - becomes pm of pakistan, or head of the party, benazir is finished also.....she is nothing without being the head of her party.....she is a bigger dictator in her party than musharraf is in the army......so benazir's optoins are - either she becomes pm or no one from ppp becomes pm......as they say in punjabi, "na khaidaan gae, na khaidun dayaan gae.."

....then there is the usa, which holds views similar to yours.....

somewhere in there is the pakistani awam.......which is now moving in a totally different direction.....they are fed up with musharraf, bb, nawaz and the usa.......which is why, they came out in droves to support the cj, but have never come out to support musharraf, bb etc......

this leaves us with the mma.....which by the way, is a different group than the, "extremists.." they are well-established political group with religion as the basis of their politics, i.e. they don't kill people.......however, they are somewhat discredited also......

mqm?......discredited, as well.....not to mention the only fascist mainstream party in pakistan.....secular extremists and fascists.......

this leaves imran khan as the only non-discredited politcal personality.......however, he is like a shepherd without a flock......he can barely get elected himself......

so what are the options, as i always say.......none.....due to this, i will have to go back to my old theory....i think urstruly and/or hamidm2 will have to return to pakistan to save the country and provide it with genuine leadership, as highlighted by their various passionate discourses on this site.....

..i have returned to make an attempt, but have been unsuccessful....and am, thus, thinking of moving to bangalore.....where i will apply for a congress ticket to compete against Kumaraswamy....i think i have more of a chance there than in pakistan....even though bangalore still has a long way to go to get to the same level as islamabad in quality of living......however, my popularity seems to growing, day by day, in the karnataka IT circles.....while no one in pakistan can understand what i say.....

!!!!!Hamid2/Urstruly should be allowed by the supreme court of pakistan to return to pakistan.....!!!...we all must rise up to ensure their return........

“It is not going to be smooth sailing for Benazir. We are living in difficult times. Her hard line stance against the Islamists would keep her on her toes, and would require military support all the time.”

Babar Mufti obviously has some better knowledge about what is going on in Pakistan than the clowns posting on this thread.

We are entering the Danse Macabre stage of the game in Pakistan. La Danse Macabre has all the characters: the king, the commanders, the slaves and a pretty woman.

When the dance of death starts many unlikely characters join together. That is what is happening in Pakistan. Musharaf is dancing his way to death (metaphor) and he will take many down with him. But Benazir for sure would not be one of them.

Benazir is the only player in town; all others are either the cheerleaders or the pallbearers.

She is the only pro-west politician in Pakistan, she is the only politician in Pakistan who has a certain aura and she is the only politician in Pakistan who has a better chance of winning a majority of seats in elections. She may not win an absolute majority but her party will win more seats than any other party. She has a core group of 30% Pakistanis who would vote for her no matter what and all she has to now do is find another 10%. With advisers like me helping her, she is not going to lose this battle.

Posters here are talking about Nawaz Sharif and his politics. Nawaz has learned a lot. He knows what is going on and he has agreed as Benazir had already said, to give Benazir the first opportunity. And why he did that?

Benazir is the consensus choice of the West. The US admin and both parties(Dems &Repbs) feel comfortable to work with Benazir. Nawaz Sharif is still unknown and he is the person who despite the US admin(Clinton) pressure held on to the Nuke tests. That is his big negative and he will have to redeem himself. So Benazir and Nawaz agree to play the good cop and bad cop routine. Nawaz will not talk to Musharaf and will take the hard-line and Benazir would take the risk because she can as I stated above, she has a solid 30% support in Pakistan and Nawaz Sharif does not.

The last question in this equation is how would the army respond. Benazir is unpopular in the army. If we today give five names to the army officers to elect the PM, Nawaz would get 80% of the vote and Benazir would not get 2% of the army officers including the Generals and corps(Karoor (as in 100 lakh) ) commanders would not vote for her. That is a big negative. Nawaz can help her out here but when push comes to shove the Army would defy Benazir. There is no doubt in my mind that the last clash will be between the army and the Benazir supporters. She can only compensate for that with the US help. As long as long the US keeps control over the Pak army, she will rule without any problems.

Baber (see above) is pointing to something very important. The Islamists or the Jihadis in Pakistan (outside of the tribal areas) are nothing without the army’s help. As soon as Benazir takes over, the Islamists will become the biggest vehicle for the army to pressure Benazir. The army will not help Benazir in quashing the Islamists. I hope the US helps out (With the screwed up Bush admin, that is only a forlorn hope.) otherwise we are looking at a prolonged civil war in Pakistan.

Benazir needs to take a risk and should try to break up the Pak army. Can the US help her out in this task? A phenomenal question mark!

Here is something more for the idiots here to ponder. I am not going to name the triumvirate of Idiots on this thread. (One Pakistan and two Indians).

Benazir has no support from the liberals and the left in Pakistan. Even the nationalist including the Baloch nationalist don’t support her. Nawaz is being supported by the left, the nationalists and the liberals in Pakistan. The only legitimate left is also supporting Nawaz (Read Zahida Hinna, my old friend not necessarily ideological, in Daily Express). Zahida is the spokesperson for the left in Pakistan.

Why is that so? Nawaz is working with the MMA and still the liberals support him? What is the equation here? Elementary! Nawaz has a program, an economic program. He supports industrialization of Pakistan; he takes a progressive attitude towards the economic well being of the country. Benazir knows squat about the economic side of the politics. She is still stuck in her father’s program and that makes her unattractive for the liberals and the others in Pakistan. But in today’s context, she is the only alternate to the army in Pakistan.

HP sain,

(She has a core group of 30% Pakistanis who would vote for her no matter what )

That is a huge number in a multi-cornered contest I presume a four cornered contest between PPP, PML-Q + allies, PML-N + allies, MMA. I dont think any Indian party gets that kind of votes in national level elections.

Even in some states for eg Bihar and UP, 30% votes wud bring u very close 2 victory.

Regards

majumdar #46: "She has a core group of 30% Pakistanis who would vote for her no matter what"

....no political party in pakistan can claim that 30% of the pakistanis will vote for them, "no matter what"....it is quite an incorrect assumption, with no merit in statistics.....

.....if for no other reason, because only roughly 40% of the total registered pakistani voters actually vote......so 30% of total pakistani elgible voters would be 3/4th of the total individuals who actually vote....meaning 75% of the individuals who actually vote will vote for ppp, "no matter what!"...obviously no party in any country can claim that......

.....if we take the 30% to mean 30% of the total registered voters who actually vote, then this would amount to 30% of the 40% who vote.......this would equal 13.33% of the total pakistanis.....

......however, even looking at 30% in this manner is not an accurate analysis......in the 2002 legislative elections, 41.80% of the eligible pakistanis voted......out of this, ppp got 28.42% of the votes......this includes all voters, who normally sit on the fence and are not in the, "no matter what" category......even this figure is less than the 30% who would vote for her, "no matter what".......

.....in the elections before that, in 1997, only 35.2% of the registered voters voted......and ppp was swept away by pml.......ppp got 18 seats, pml got 137!......hence the 30% theory - of total pakistani voters or of total voters who actually voted - fails again......for ppp, miserably, in this case......

......in 1990, only 40% of the registered voters voted......ppp won, and got 86 seats, while pml got 73......however, once again 30% of, "no matter what" theory fails......

hence, no party in pakistan is even close to claiming that 30% of pakistanis will vote for it, "no matter what"........the only party that can claim even coming close to that, even as a % of actual voters who do vote, is a joint pml, with all factions on one platform......which is what happened in the 1997 elections......

what ppp and a joint pml can claim, is that if all goes well for them, and those who sit on the fence fall their way also, they should be able to get around 30% of the voters who actually vote.....this would include their, "no matter what" voters plus those who sit on the fence......this is the best case scenario; not a worst case scenario (worst case = no one besides the, "no matter what" voters vote for the ppp)

i can only think of the 1970 elections, where awami party won 38% of the seats, and perhaps it could claim that 30% of pakistanis (that too, of those who vote) would vote for it, "no matter what"......as all the bengali voters were supporting it.......

Who i this guy? I know who is getting my vote.

KARACHI: The grand-daughter of the father of nation Quaid-e-Azm Mohammad Ali Jinnah having dinner with her family.

Where is Mantolives? Why does this family looks like Gandhi's family?

Re: # 50

I think caption should have read Nawasi

Urstruly #49 {"Karachi - Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah ki poti apne ahlkhaney ke humrah intihaai pasmanda haalaat meN khaana kharahi heN."}

Urstruly,
How could Jinnah have a poti? Who was his son?

Musharraf is headed to Kabul on Thursday, he might never make it back = ), maybe he takes the Karzai man with him, the Americans might aim at getting two birds with one stone, who knows... they are busy linking the Taliban/Al-Qaeda with Iran, with Pakistan and with the purple dinosaur... The military is firmly gripping power in Pakistan, and it is itself firmly in the grip of the Americans. The BB will sweep the (rigged) elections, but only as a stop gap until an army general returns to power, at the heels of war drums beating in the same region as before....check out this regions history.......Not too far away as Iraqis languish in their own sewage, without power, jobs, and security, the Maliki government is crumbling.....Welcome to the new world order.....and of course tahmed, the American elite have absolutely nothing to do with it all...

Tahmed Sahib:

I respect your sentiments and the definition of true leaders you have given. The examples of Washington, Sherman and Gandhi that you have given only show that true leaders also know when their time has come. In democracy sometimes it is not possible, as Churchill had to be defeated in the polls.

One cannot say that Musharraff's time is over. Here is my reasoning. Musharraff, in my view, is the last General to seize power in Pakistan. The U.S. certainly wants army to play role in the governance of Pakistan, as most observers will say the terror agenda is unfinished, and likelihood of right of center (in religious sense) coming to power in fair elections is very high. How would such a government deal with the unfinished agenda at best is unclear. Hence the role of army is certain in the governance for some time.

Therefore, a coalition between army and the largest fairly elected political party is the solution that makes sense. This side of politics is clouding many judgments and raising emotions against Musharraff. I think decision to remove Musharraff will squarely rest in the hands of Pakistani army. Personally speaking, bringing in a new general will not set a great precendence that newly elected legislature submitted itself to a new general.

Governance wise, the best is to evolve free and independent legislature and then break the bond with the army (or, may be it does not need to be broken) depending upon how power sharing is passed onto the army.

Therefore, to me on account of unfinished agenda and priority to evlove independent and powerful legislature. Musharraff is the best alternative for peaceful transition.

Romair:

Nice to read about your progress, if you have reached Bangalore you have reached at the center of action in technology for at least next ten years. Keep me posted. That place now has more engineers than silicon valley. Their savings rate, and the returns on investment are now much higher than even the U.S.

Congress is so done in the south. Besides there is so much more fun in being an entreprenuer and let those politicians chase you.

Ha ha, wonder of wonders, the CIA's media outpost in Pakitan, GEO TV, directly broadcasts Voice of America programming without even hiding the logo...hmmm they must think we're damn fools....

And Fox News directly broadcasts GEO's footage whenever reporting any news from Pakistan ; )

Where does Hamid Mir fit in all of this :-?

#51, Urstruly,
Thanks - that makes so much sense. Now, if she is a nawasi - is she the aunt of the guy marrying Preiti Zenta?

It's more sensible this way:

1. Mushy + Bezamir (PPP)
2. Besharif (ML(N))+ Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain + Chaudhry Pervez Elaahi (ML(Q))
3. Mullah Fajlu (MMA) + JI + MQM (w/o AH) + TI

anil: I am very surprised that you buy Musharraf's flea-bitten claim that he needs to be dictator or else the terrorists will win. You must be one of the last few people left in the world who buy that.

But, let us assume for the sake of argument that Musharraf really believes what he says. In that case, shouldnt he be arguing to be freed up from all these other duties he has taken upon himself (most recent being to try and bribe lawyers with pay increases after they failed to be bullied by him)? That is: if he really believes what he says, Musharraf would himself request to be allowed to focus on his job as military chief of bringing law and order to the tribal area.

Here is an article from bbc today that I discusses how the self-styled "elite" who claim Pakistani people need to be ruled by someone like Musharraf are in fact putting the cart before the house. Pakistani people need to rule themselves through duly appointed and removable leaders, and those seeking to take away this basic right of the Pakistani people need to be judged by the Pakistani courts.

Hypocrisy of Pakistan's ruling elite

Here is the link to the bbc article I tried to give at the end of post #60

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6933876.stm

#60 {"Pakistani people need to rule themselves through duly appointed and removable leaders, and those seeking to take away this basic right of the Pakistani people need to be judged by the Pakistani courts."}

Tahmed Sahib,
I agree - please change the word "appointed" to "elected." It sounds too much like what seems to be going on. :)

Salim: Glad we agree on this fundamental issue facing Pakistan today. By "duly appointed and removable" I did in fact mean through duly elected. Although, our political leaders do need to recognize that they are the servants who are their at the will of the Pakistani people. Musharraf is in fact quite keeping with previous leaders (elected or otherwise) who start acting like kings. The important thing is that if the Supreme Court of Pakistan continues to live up to expectations, then Musharraf may well go down as being the last "ruler" of Pakistan, and his successor as the first "servant" of Pakistan.

WIth their mass outpouring of support to the rule of law over the past few months, Pakistani people have shown the world that they are as capable as any nation of being a free people.

#63, Agreed again, Tahmed Sahib. I would much rather have an incompetent government elected by Pakistanis than a competent one imposed by foreign powers.

But then, why can't we have a competent government selected by our own people? Or get rid of an incompetent one without having to resort to coups, revolts, or treason. Nothing wrong with shorter term limits and a viable option to recall a bad choice.

Tahmed Sahib:

"That is: if he really believes what he says, Musharraf would himself request to be allowed to focus on his job as military chief of bringing law and order to the tribal area."

You have given a very accurate definition of the role for the General President.

I would not be surprised if Benazir (=PPP) gets elected with a healthy majority, this is exactly what would happen. As legislature would be strong and independent, and Judiciary can only interpret, apply and enforce laws legislature hands down.

To get things started, Pakistan needs parliamentary elections every two years with term limits for the PM and President positions - also may be a good idea to have term limits for the legislators - two years makes sense, until we find people who are genuinely interested in propagating true democracy.

Re: # 67
you do travel alot don't you i hope it's not in your dreams only.

anil #54: "Keep me posted"

....yes, i have reached bangalore....and mumbai....and gurgaon....should be going to hyderabad shortly.....i am now, quite well entrenched into this IT scene....

....i have also reached karachi and islamabad and lahore and am quite well entrenched into the IT scene there, as well....

.....i suppose somewhat of a unique situation.......half my emails go to pakistan and half to india....travelling quite a bit, in the region from gulf to india......

there seem to be two different groups of indians evolving in IT....those who went to the iit's etc. and went off to the usa and established themselves, there.....and those who went to the iit's etc. and stayed back in india, and established companies there....i have now met both and worked with both.....interesting to see the differences and similarities......

i think india has reached a saturation point in terms of lack of availability of skilled IT professionals......everyone being hired and put on projects is very very young.......overwhelmingly less than 5 years of experience......and the demand for skills is so high, and supply so low, that these companies will eventually face large declines in quality....and salaries will go through the roof....

......they are now moving off to china and recruiting in places like hungary and romania.......they should look at pakistan.....

Re: # 87

Nothing can save a country when its people do not wish to live with each other. We have already lost half of the country in 1971 and have done little to keep the rest together. Nuclear capability had its shortterm positive impact but has since lost its effect on nation building. Post 9/11 world has made Pak nukes more of a liability, weapons of death for others are being protected as if though our life depended on it.

Pakistan is on a self-destruct mode and we have nobody to blame but ourselves.

Re: # 69
1971 will not be repeated for now there is atmomic reality of superior atomic bombs by us. ( all world experts have concluded pakistani design and yield in Kilotons is far higher than Indian. More bigger cities means more targets). If the stage comes due to spilitist encouragement from India general will make atomic attack and cripple india before split occurs.
Also soniya gandhi is not Indira Gandhi.

Dear Mufti,

Your thesis is based on ideological debate whereas Pakistan problems are far more complicated than we wud like to believe.

Urstruly correctly identified Pakistans elitist problem that continues to haunt the country. Pakistan has always been a Authoritarian state that is teetering on totalitarianism. Authoritarian states are ruled by elites with varied interest groups dominating the political spectrum. Army, feudals, beuaracrats, Industrialists and Moolas are the various interest groups who plague our country politics in one form or another. These varied interst groups are unwilling to share real power with the people and wud like nothing more but status quo. May it be Musharraf (army), Bezamir (Feudals), Nasharif (Industrialists)or Maulvi Diesel (Moolas) they all share the same objectices ie continued domination of the resources.

What we see today is the clash of the same power groups amongst each other that has always led to the change of guards in shape of power sharing. But this time around there is a external force (USA) that has its own interest to protect and has added to the complexity of power restructuring.

Back in 1971 when Indira Gandhi had split Pakistan her next military objective was splitting into two halfs the remaining Pakistan. We are headed in that direction, Pakistan will be divided into two or more political entities based on ethnic and foreign power redistribution.

Its not like democracies can do no wrong, germans elected hitler, americans elected cheyney (second time round). I'd love to have complete faith in the supreme court but without a significant change in pakistani society its all for nothing. Pakistani's crazy politics are a very good reflection of an inherently flawed social system which again is a product of widespread ignorance. Only education can fix this.

Re: # 71 Masadi I agree with you. Appointed people can not make democracy. You are right but you need to be moderaate in expressing.
I hope YLH can contribute to discussion as he knows big people in lahore politics and will be good to hear from him his feelings about what Punjabi heart land thinks

Tahmed wrote "Pakistani people need to rule themselves through duly appointed and removable leaders, and those seeking to take away this basic right of the Pakistani people need to be judged by the Pakistani courts"

The "appointed" vs "elected" as tahmed has written was a Freudian slip. He actually does demand "appointed" rulers, i.e. appointed by the US elite, either directly like Karzai or through their occupation force like Zia and Musharraf. When those "appointed" rulers don't fulfill even the most outrageous US demands then that is described by this peon of the West as "taking away the basic rights of the people of Pakistan, further the solution to that (if not outright assassination by the US and its occupation force) is according to him judgment by the courts and the judges those that have throughout the history of this nation legitimized military rule (i.e. submitted to the US occupation force), including the current CJ manufactured crisis and its logical conclusion.

Tahmed is an unconditional worshipper and peon of the West, he will not say a single word against the undemocratic illegal interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan by the US through its history. He will not say a word against the US support of Pakistani dictators into doing things that have caused immense harm to Pakistan and its people and yet this miserable fcuk has the audacity to give us the "democracy" slogan and talk about the rule of law. We understand you a-hole, you are an enemy of humanity and an enemy of Pakistan. Go back to where you belong, up GWB's a$$

LOL

Hoping against hopes,

The poor Babar Mufti is having high hopes for pakistan, that too about enlightened moderation.

Let us look at the social institution level.

Hoodood and blaspjemy laws were there during the time of benazir and she did nothing because the paki people want it including the YLH.

So nothing will change there, even after the return of benazir.

Hoping against hope

Poor Babar Mufti, you have absolutely no idea about pakistan. benzir comes and goes, nothing will change in pakistan. The events and institutions of pakistan represent the will of the people.

Benazir was there when hoodood, and blasphemy laws were in place, she did nothing. The spread of jihadis and the madrassas took place when she was there. The corruption and mullaism flourished during benazir time. The moderate islam was never there in pakistan and no one can create it when TNT was the foundation of its creation.

Take it from me babar nothing will change.

Now let us look at budget alocations. Most of the money is cornered by the military. from corn flakes to cement are made my the army. Most of teh transport is cornered by the military. Most of the top jobs are cornered by the military. No benzir can change any of that in th e short term.

There is no excess money to allocate to schools, so madrassas will flourish , they are supported by the mums and dada.

The export situation will not improve because no one wants to come to paklistan because of terrorism.

Pakistan is in a situation of no options, there is no where to move. It is pure power craziness that attracts Benazir, she has no vision for the country, no ideas, no nothing.

She will not be able to do anything about kashmir, no trade improvements with India.

Under the US [pressure shortly pakis will have to allow shipments to afghanisatan through pakistan. That is all.

No Osama will be caught by Benazir.

#43 Posted by bulleya,

somewhere in there is the pakistani awam.......which is now moving in a totally different direction.....they are fed up with musharraf, bb, nawaz and the usa.......

Above is true that people are fed up, but it must be noted that above all people are fed up with Musharraf's kowtowing to US interests resulting in grave domestic polarization, and more so now given the recent US military threats. It is obvious BB will need to follow the same path if she's in power. On the other hand, NS is the only one who has a record of successfully resisting US pressure with the nuke tests, a posture which is widely admired.

The other factor is that the 'extremists' can no more be treated dismissively by any political party as in the past given the civil war in FATA and Swat, and will need to be given political representation to avoid its spread. BB/musharraf combine will continue to use force.

People are likely to take into account that NS has worked well with religious elements of all persuasions before, and is the only one with the ability to do so again.

Besides, the article 58 (2b) will make any BB/Musharraf smooth working relationship impossible. So even if a deal occurs, it will not last more than a few months. So all these discussions are academic.

However, notwithstanding the above, the chances of 'emergency' are far more than any elections. In which case, I would place my money on Urstruly's prediction.

BJ Kumar...

truth is bitter...accept it or not...

while pointing fingers in MAJ..look into your own shirts..OK

what your shameless leaders have done in past....

MJ is our hero..thanks god..he saved us ..from ultra beautiful mumbai..and cacutta...as given in pics by zeemax...

we send 1000 times lanat to such place...

thanks ..we have seperate land..where we live like a free 1st class citizens...not as 3rd class as poor slave indians muslims live under dhoti walai shameless hindus..makkar qaum...

and i am asking for one more seperate mulim country inside india..as 200 millions muslims have a right of freedom..how cn you put a lock on it ?????????? tell me ?????

#66 Salim: Two year term limits would seem to make sense, although even four years is better than what Musharraf is trying to do - 8 years of unelected rule plus 5 more, complete with uniform to match!!

An important thing missing in Pakistani politics is inner party democracy. All parties seem obliged to stick to their party leaders, when in fact these individuals have made serious errors as prime ministers and should themselves step aside. This of course is institutionalized in the US through the primary process - and political leaders have often voluntarily stepped aside.

In Pakistan, time is ripe for such a change. Aitezaz Ahsan is clearly a better candidate than BB, and there is every reason to give Javed Hashmi a chance and for NS to step aside. The fact that both BB and NS are fishing to remain party leaders rather acting responsibly and calling for party primaries to elect new party leaders is disappointing, although keeping in character with these two. If they should chose to do so, their personal prestige would be greatly enhanced, and more importantly, the democratic movement would receive a big stimulus.

#65 anil: I think much depends on how BB reacts to Musharraf's announcement today that he will run for "re-elections" (i.e. by playing making a mockery of the election process as before) and stay in uniform. If she re-joins other political parties from whom she broke ranks by having separate talks with Musharraf, then perhaps she will have a chance. If she does not, I think the PPP could easily end up splintering.

That is my uneducated guess. All one can say for sure at this time is: August is going to be a hot month that may well determine the shape of Pakistan's political structure for the next few years.

masadi: you write Tahmed is an unconditional worshipper and peon of the West

I am demolished. You have ruined my reputation. :-(

Why you are sent to fetch samosa and chai for the staff room of government college, pind dadan khan, why dont you get one for me too to cheer me up? :-)

#76 Dawa-ill-dil

Dawa, pehley apni dawa kar! Uske baad India ko updesh dena!

Guys like you are such ignoramuses that one can only pity you.

You lost Bangladesh!

If you do not mend your ways, you may lose more! (Who would have believed that ten years ago?!) There is a REAL danger of that at this time. The NWFP/easern side divide is already too stark.

Learn to live together - like the people of India have tried more or less successfully!

Your jihadi crappshoot's time is up!

It came out a cropper!

YOU LOSE!

#76 Dawa, it is worth repeating...

YOU LOSE!

YOU LOSE!

YOU LOSE!

Dawa-ill-dil:

Lekar humm
Dawwaa ka fill
Firtey haiN
Mehfil, mehfil
Koi bataye, kidhar ko jayen?!
Zee ke sang – karnee hai tuttee!

congrats Pakis ....you're number 1...most unstable country...woo hoo..

Pakistan, Venezuela among most unstable: Eurasia Group
By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch
Last Update: 12:20 PM ET Aug 7, 2007

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Pakistan, Venezuela and Nigeria are among the most unstable emerging markets and rank the lowest on Eurasia Group's Global Political Risk Index, a political stability ranking for 24 emerging markets.
The top three most stable countries are Hungary, South Korea and Poland, according to the group's scores on the Global Political Risk Index for August. Tailored toward emerging markets investors, the index is produced by Eurasia Group and distributed in partnership with Citi Private Bank. See Emerging Markets Report.
The index is based on 20 indicators in four equally weighted categories: government, society, security and economy, which are combined into a single country score on a scale from zero to 100. The higher the score, the more stable the country.
Once again leading the ranking, Hungary has a score of 79, followed by South Korea with 76, Poland with 72, Bulgaria with 70 and Brazil with 69. Read more about Brazil.

Most unstable
Pakistan is the most unstable country with a composite score of 46. It is ruled by General Pervez Musharraf who came to power in a bloodless coup in 1999.
"President Pervez Musharraf's crackdown against extremists is unlikely to ease political pressures on his government," said analysts at the Eurasia Group. "The heavy hand displayed in the government's dealing with radicals occupying the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) and its renewed commitment to fight extremism, while improving Musharraf's standing with moderate secularists, triggered a backlash from religious conservatives."

Is there any truth to the rumor that mian Hamidm2 is out there hobnobbing between Mushy and BB - putting on massive frequent-flyer mileage between vilayat and Pakistan, looking to be annointed the next Wazeer-e-alam, hence not been able to address these here important interacts?!

Benazir Bhutto would like nothing better than to be the prime minister and see the powers of the presidency limited. Musharraf would like an alliance with Benazir's party and still retain his presidential powers, i.e. a weak prime minister's office.

How these issues are accomodated, will decide the future of Pakistani politics and the rhetorical justifications for this act as an explanation to th