General Pervez Musharraf has never been caught in a situation, either after the coup in which he ousted elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif or before that, in his career. He was promoted out of turn by Sharif as chief of Pakistan's armed forces. Then he dethroned Sharif in the most dramatic manner in Pakistan's history.

The year 2007 is election year and Musharraf wants to continue in the top slot. On the political front, he is trying to make up with self-exiled former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on the apparent understanding that she would not mind his continuing as President in lieu of her safe return to the country, participating in elections and, if possible, being the Prime Minister.

For the realisation of this dream, Musharraf invited the then Chief Justice of Pakistan to his chamber and suggested that the election for Pakistan's President may be allowed from the existing members of provincial and national assemblies.

The then Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Choudhry did not agree to this. The matter should have ended there but, Choudhry was grilled for five hours by Musharraf. It goes to Choudhry's credit that he did not succumb to the pressure and showed rare courage of sticking to a "no". Choudhry was then summarily shown the door and in his place Rana Bhagwandas appointed Chief Justice of Pakistan.

But in doing this, Musharraf's assessment went haywire. The entire legal community started agitating against him. The tremendous support which Justice Choudhry received in his journey from Islamabad to Lahore had to be seen to be believed.

Incidentally, the Islamabad-Lahore highway is the best road in Pakistan. It takes only four hours to complete the journey. But the legal community and public craving for democracy gathered in thousands at various points on the road. It took Justice Choudhry close to 22 hours to complete the journey.

Lahore's biggest ever gathering in Pakistan's history was then addressed by Choudhry. Lahore is considered as political capital of Pakistan and Islamabad is a city of bureaucrats. Rawalpindi is more or less a cantonment whereas Karachi is the financial capital. Right from pre-Partition days, Lahore has witnessed almost all political events, from the resolution of dividing the country to Choudhry addressing the mammoth rally last week.

Justice Choudhry had planned a rally at Karachi too. Musharraf panicked and with MQM's support engineered riots, causing blood bath, killing 41 persons and injuring more than 150. Choudhry was not allowed to address the rally at Karachi and he went back to Islamabad. In the event, Choudhry became a rallying point for democratic forces and for the legal community. To make matters worse for Musharraf, his new man in Rana Bhagwandas also sided with Choudhry.

Musharraf now faces his biggest ever challenge for survival. So far, he has faced all challenges smoothly, including those from the US. Washington considers him the most trusted and essential ally. He promised a tall task but hoodwinked them by half-hearted implementation, be it the question of fighting Taliban and al-Qaeda, or Pakistan's clandestine nuclear bazaar run by its superscientist AQ Khan.

As of now, there is no sign of the military brass betraying Musharraf, nor is there any noticeable disturbance in the political equilibrium. But the mass revolt is a new phenomenon, obviously brought about by his mishandling of Karachi and Peshawar.

The saving grace is that the US has stood solidly behind him - mainly because they have no other option.

But the US has been giving mixed signals. It expressed unhappiness with Musharraf's terrorism containment but quickly followed this up by its official line of supporting Musharraf fully.

Benazir Bhutto has kept silent over the latest situation but Sharif has hit back with: "Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, who is in the eye of a storm over his action against the country's Chief Justice, has totally exhausted all his options and is a gone man now. His fall is simply a matter of time."

Referring to the anti-Musharraf protests in Karachi that led to 41 deaths and the subsequent nationwide strike, Sharif said: "Protests are in every nook and cranny of the country. It is a positive development that people are realising that the dictator is destroying institution.

You could peruse at least a dozen editorials and you will find that they second Sharif's view.

There appears no way to save Musharraf. Therefore, important members of the Musharraf camp are now talking of clamping Emergency in Pakistan.

Courtesy: www.dailypioneer.com, May 20, 2007