It sort of shows whats going on nowadays, Musharraf and his enlightened moderation appears to be on full retreat, almost in everything from the marathon to the religious column in the passport his political allies have buckled under the pressure or they outright supported the MMA (backed up as well with the Nawaz Muslim League ).
What does this all mean? Well it means significantly the MMA could in fact be perceived as a national alternative to the PML-Q and PPP by the people..
Nope, the only reason why the Matooz got votes (which again was not enough to land them leadership of the country) was the anti-amreekan factor and their desperate alliances, other than that it is quite evident that they are not the favourites, in terms of popularity amongst the people.
Religion in passports and women in marathons are scaps to keep the MMA dogs happy, while Musharraf concetrates on bigger victories elsewhere. You should see how secular Pakistan has become on the ground in the last 5 years ;), and how much people hate those Matooz even more. Diesel and Durrani are gonna go to the NSC next time most probably - look whose retreating heh?. :p
I have to agree with Zakk on this one. Mush seems to be in serious trouble when it comes to credibility and establishing his viewpoint. Or, it may be just another elaborate plan to show PPP what can happen if they dont play ball. Whatever the reason maybe, mma wins in the end. You cannot play such dirty games and expect no blowback. Mullas have been playing this game for a much longer time, they know its played and are playing mushee for whatever they can squeeze out of him. Little bit of liberalism, freedom of expression and moderating influence of the right may just be a lull before the storm. Lets pray iam wrong....:(
Mushy talks a good fight..but one thing is constant to his tenure..when he's put under pressure his government surrenders...
While I am not defending the MMA..the fact is they are deciding the agenda..and by getting all the limelight they are turning themselves into the only opposition..if things continue at this rate it's only a matter of time till the people translate that impression into electoral votes..
The Mullah Military Alliance has always danced to Musharraf's tune, by accepting his LFO, his uniform, and now the NSC. Of course they will say something different so they keep can keep naive minds fooled. :)
Musharraf has got everything he wanted from the MMA - the LFO, his uniform, the NSC, and all they got what was some scraps in return. He has become more and more powerful year on year, and he has the opposition all dancing his tune. Did you notice how the MMA does not support the PPP’s call for election before 2007?
Musharraf government has a history of retreating in the face of opposition, especially from MMA. Whether the issues it has already retreated are big or small isn't the question. MMA are systematically gaining political ground on the national scene and making their presence felt strongly; be it through hooliganism.
If the recent newspapers reports on MMA are anything to go by, things do not look too pretty for the liberals and moderate Pakistanis. Pakistan's right might spring up a surprise for the world during next elections.