Former Pakistan military ruler Pervez Musharraf left the country shortly after the formation of the PPP government in 2008. He returns on the announcement of a caretaker government — in short, on the expiry of the regime run by those he perceived as deadly opponents, to contest the coming May election.
It is said he came back to fight the election in spite of death threats held out by the Pakistani Taliban. This might give him a certain halo, but in the overall scenario the denouement is just too pat. Anyone familiar with Pakistan affairs is unlikely to be surprised if the threat is manufactured for public consumption in case the former President’s homecoming has the behind-the-scenes blessings of the organisation he served for four decades — the powerful Pakistan Army.
The May election will be a watershed if it affords a transition from one civilian government to the next. The former general, with a new party, is now a civilian. Pakistan’s fledgling democracy — if that is really the right term to use — is likely to remain unsettled. The security and economic problems are humongous, and trust is mostly absent between major parties. If the right atmosphere is created, Mr Musharraf can
be the man for the moment, in spite of his unpopularity, if the Army backs him.