Opposition meltdown begins?

The main opposition alliances, led by Makhdoom Amin Fahim and Qazi Hussain Ahmed, are under mistrust, confusion and differences. The opposition's years-long resolve to send President General Musharraf home before election has apparently fizzled out.
The opposition, according to political experts, could only put up a real challenge to the president and his lieutenants in the election, if they overcome their seemingly incurable flaw of being inflexible.
The charter of democracy signed amid high hopes and some apprehensions last year, now looks like a lesson in history. Both the parties signatory to the document, are still not finding it easy to bury the unpleasant past, and make a new beginning for revival of democracy minus the military, as Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif had pledged in full media glare.
Political maturity, sense of co-existence and acknowledging political weight of other stake-holders, it goes without saying, is yet to take firm roots in the system, battered by a series of military interventions, commented some political analysts.
Its glaring instance is that Pakistan People's Party leader Benazir Bhutto and Pakistan Muslim League Patron Nawaz Sharif have failed to come to terms on holding the proposed multi-party conference, which has exposed their insurmountable lack of trust in each other.
They have been talking of clinching a seat-to-seat adjustment, but the message is loud and clear how long their 'honeymoon' can last. PPP and PML (Nawaz) have already fielded separate candidates for the NA seat of Karachi.
Political commentators pointed out that how can PPP-PML co-operation last till the upcoming polls, when they are not ready to sink their differences on the holding of an MPC. Some even speculate that Benazir Bhutto's reluctance to be part of the conference with Qazi or Maulana Fazl sitting next to her could send a wrong signal to her 'well-wishers' in the West.
There is hardly any possibility of their unanimity on the anti-Musharraf drive, as PPP wants to participate in elections under him while PML has reservations thereon. The two archrivals are part and parcel of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy, but never feel comfortable under its banner on many issues in and outside the Parliament.
The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, on the other hand, is also facing a split-like situation. As Qazi sticks to quitting the National Assembly after the passage of what he calls the un-Islamic Women Protection Bill in November, Maulana Fazlur Rehman also dubs the bill contrary to Islamic teachings, but insists on retaining the NA membership.
Likewise, Maulana Fazl has different designs: he wants to try his luck gain in the election even if President Musharraf is around. Whereas, MMA president Qazi contends that election in the presence of Musharraf will be an exercise in futility.
Needless to say, the persistently shaky and confused ARD and MMA demeanour heavily favour the uniformed head of the state: He may consider partnership with one of them or both even before the masses go to the polls, if they concede to his conditions, experts believed.