The ‘Lion’ Is Back

While Sharif could publicly claim that he had returned without compromising with Musharraf, some Pakistanis have their doubts. They point to the fact that Musharraf's head of the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI), Lt. Gen. Nadeem Taj, stayed behind in Saudi Arabia after Musharraf had left, apparently to meet with Abdullah and Sharif. These Pakistanis believe Sharif may have agreed to tone down his anti-Musharraf rhetoric and play a more constructive and cooperative political game if he were allowed to return.

Sharif's loyalists reject that view. "We don't believe there's any kind of deal," says Anusha Rahman Khan, who heads a pro-Nawaz group of women lawyers. "The only understanding he may have struck was that he could land safely."

Some Pakistanis even argue that Musharraf sees a political value in Sharif's return in that it most likely will further undercut Bhutto's position and deepen the already wide divide among the opposition parties. A quarrel is already breaking out over whether or not to participate in the elections. So far Bhutto seems leaning toward having her Pakistan People's Party run in the upcoming polls, while Sharif's faction of the Pakistan Muslim League, and the tiny party of former cricket star Imran Khan, among others, have said they are leaning toward boycotting the vote which Musharraf says most likely will be held under emergency regulations without strong constitutional guarantees.

One of the country's most charismatic, opposition lawyers, Aitzaz Ahsan, a PPP stalwart, was released from prison on Saturday, perhaps temporarily, so he could register as a candidate in the upcoming election. But as he filed his nomination papers Sunday in a stuffy Lahore courtroom, he said he did not think the vote could be free and fair if held under the emergency. "It's next to impossible to hold an election under an emergency," he said, wearing a floral wreath around his neck, which was placed there by his supporters. "Martial law and elections are an oxymoron." He added that he hoped all the opposition parties would be able to decide to take a united stand as to whether they should run or boycott the polls. Indeed opposition unity is on the minds of many Pakistanis. "We want the opposition politicians to make an alliance to end Musharraf's dictatorship," says Rafaqat Khan, a Lahore lawyer and Ahsan supporter.

But opposition unity, while widely hoped for, is unlikely to be achieved. Musharraf is counting on it. As long as the opposition stays disunited, Musharraf and his political allies can probably continue clinging to power.

© 2007