"The army has been deployed for polling day in Tharparkar and Attock."
"Not a good idea."
"Why? Won't we have fair and free elections if the army is deployed?"
"I think the perception is that Musharraf has a candidate and he may be tempted to support his candidate, the Chosen One. So in order to give a sense of fair play the usual civilian machinery should be deployed at the polling booths."
"And the civilians will ensure fair and free polls!"
"Not a good situation for our President. It's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. When neither the army nor the civilians are considered impartial..."
"Well, there was going to be some price to pay for having the Chief of Army Staff wear two hats...or is it the President who is wearing the two hats?"
"Tough one that! But Musharraf has said democracy has been restored and that all the institutions were functioning according to the Constitution."
"What about the two hats? Did he say anything about that?"
"Nope, but one of his Lotas did. The Defence Minister said it would be against national interest for Musharraf to retire from his army post."
"Well, invoking the national interest argument is commonplace. Musharraf is neither the first nor will he be the last who will invoke it to get what he wants."
"Right. I propose that we define national interest in the Constitution."
"No need - the Constitution can be changed by the stroke of a pen."
"Ah true. But Musharraf has said in an interview that he would have made Brown Sahib a prime minister but..."
"Brown Sahib?"
"Imran Khan. That he would have been the PM instead of I suppose the Chosen One if he had toed the line."
"I begin to respect Brown Sahib after all that he has done wrong."
"Indeed."
"Musharraf says he helped Imran in the hospital."
"Nawaz Sharif said the same thing...I wonder how Musharraf helped though. I mean at the time the hospital was being built and needed money Nawaz Sharif was the PM."
"Ah well, we'll have to ask the man with the two hats to tell us how."