FROM A RINGSIDE SEAT

General Pervez Musharraf, the president of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and also the head of the country's armed forces, has been a powerful 'leader' as long as he enjoyed being one of the most needed allies of the United States.
But now five years after 9/11, the situation looked to have drastically changed for him. Increasing US casualties in Afghanistan being blamed on cross-border attacks, renewed infiltration charges from India and Pakistani links in recent failed mass murder attempt in London are the incidents that have weakened his position internationally. At home, too, he has suffered back-to-back setbacks most recently. His worries are on the rise.
Twin letters some members of the country's intelligentsia have written to him asking to separate military from politics for the survival of Pakistan was an indication of some thing had gone wrong. Where lies the trouble link, time will reveal.
Also on political front, some of his own allies have been nipping at the heels of the general. A recent revolt by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) is the latest in the series of such incidents.
The most burning among the worrisome happenings for the president is the corruption charges against his pick for the premiership, Shaukat Aziz, in the Pakistan Steel Mills sell-off.
Using a Supreme Court verdict to scrape the deal, the opposition is planning a no-confidence motion against him: another worry for the general. To counter the no-confidence, the government is using various political cards. One such was to divide the opposition into conservative and liberal block.
A bill to amend 1979 controversial Hudood Ordinance was a weapon for this purpose. But it looked to have failed to achieve the desired result when attempted to be tabled in the National Assembly on Friday.
The opposition stood absolutely united to oppose the bill against the government's hope that it would compel Pakistan People's Party (PPP) - that over the years has developed an image of being a liberal entity - to separate ways from rightwing Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), a resolute supporter of the Hudood Ordinance.
But the situation appeared different Friday morning. There was no hint of difference in the ranks of the opposition on the bill. When after the question hour, the government made an attempt to move the bill, the opposition blocked the move by pointing out quorum. Speaker Amir Hussain first suspended the session for an hour-and-a-half to give the government a chance to bring in the required number of legislatures. But he had to call it a day later.
There was a 'full of suspicion' surprise in the presence of only few treasury members on a day when such an important bill was to be tabled.
Insiders of the ruling coalition say differences among the ranks of treasury are still there despite hectic efforts by the president. That's why their presence was so thin despite the fact that the president himself tasked them to defend the proposed amendments in the ordinance some three days back. MMA leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmed perhaps is well aware of the fact. Jolly Hussain commented on the situation immediately after the session was adjourned, "We don't claim that some 50 members of the ruling coalition are with us, but we do (claim) they are not with the government."
This perhaps is the reason the government has decided to force its members to stay away from the house during the voting on the no-confidence motion.
The desperation on failure to divide the opposition through this bill was visible. Parliamentary affairs minister Dr Sher Afgan Niazi was surprised as to how PPP which, otherwise, claims to be a liberal party, opposed a bill that was primarily aimed at promoting 'liberalism' in the country.
Information minister Muhammad Ali Durrani was also perturbed over the opposition's attitude. He said not the government alone but also the opposition was equally responsible for legislation. In the Senate, privatisation minister Zahid Hamid wind up the debate on PSM sell off and repeated what he said in the National Assembly a day before.