Things political have come full circle, as the go-betweens, who had undertaken to build bridges between President Pervez Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto have accepted defeat and bowed out, restoring the balance of power in the parliament to the pre-Woman Protection Act position.
"The storm let loose by the women rights bill has blown over, leaving behind practically nothing to worry", said a PML (Q) insider. Pervez Musharraf will be re-elected by the Shujaat-led PML (Q), he said, asserting that those who thought that PPP was the best bet for the President, were "living in fool's paradise". It was also a fallacy to believe that Washington wanted Musharraf and Benazir to join hands against the conservative religious-minded forces, he added.
Separately, another source said Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz is presently engaged in removing "misunderstandings" between PML (Q) leaders and MQM, adding that some progress has already been recorded in the form of a kind of cease-fire. "The recent visit of non-political 'ulema' to the Nine-Zero has also helped insoftening, albeit vicariously, the differences in the coalition partners."
The revised perceptions take life from the belief that Benazir and her political tribe, that had been wandering the wilds for over a decade could not be expected to fall for a deal that promises not much in terms of power sharing. Heading the country's biggest vote bank, that has withstood all kinds of pulls and pressures, Benazir is "prepared to wait for the right time... beyond the Musharraf era", said a PPP leader.
Her firm 'no' to the go-betweens, who were seeking a deal in which she would agree to a caretaker headed by her nominee, has flopped, said the PML (Q) source. "President Musharraf's remark to an Indian TV channel that neither of the two ex-prime ministers, Benazir and Nawaz, can stand for next elections amply proves my point," he added.
He said that the cooperation given by PPPP to the government in getting the Women Protection Bill passed was "one-time event" and happened because the party could not vote against a bill which fully resonated its long-nurtured ethos. But, he was not certain if the same would happen when Shujaat's private bill, that supplements the recent legislation, comes up for vote in the parliament.
Given the commitment made by Shujaat to resign in case the anti-Islamic provisions in the new law - which independent ulema say do exist -were not removed by the end of this month the ruling circles, however, dangerously juxtapose with President Musharraf's firm stance that no change in the whatsoever would be countenanced. Finding way out of this dilemma situation is the major concern of the government, he said.