"I was amazed at what the loyalist said?"
"Who is that?"
"The Chaudhry Cousin from Gujrat who was the biggest fan of Musharraf's and..."
"Right but by loyalist I meant Sheikh Rashid, who used to be the master of Disinformation, more loyal to Musharraf than anyone else and..."
"But not as far as his politics is concerned. I mean he didn't use Musharraf's pictures to get votes..."
"Yes I noticed that too. Why do you think that is?"
"Because of the new lows in Musharraf's popularity ratings."
"I am skeptical about that response."
"Why?"
"Because a lot of his popularity had to do with Sheikh Sahib's perception as to how much power he wielded."
"Oh come now, even the most illiterate amongst us thought that Musharraf ruled absolutely."
"I didn't mean that!"
"What did you mean then?"
"The fact that he no longer wears the uniform..."
"You think..."
"Yes I think with retirement he handed over a lot of his power..."
"That doesn't make sense, his popularity began declining after March 9 last year when he fired the Chief Justice..."
"And did Sheikh Sahib say a word against Musharraf till he took off his uniform?"
"Now that you mention it..."
"Musharraf's unpopularity is due to his poor judgements but what I am saying is that with the laying down of the uniform so to speak he doesn't have as much power and..."
"And that's when the rats leave the sinking ship."
"Though let me remind you a rat is not all that intelligent an animal."
"But intelligent enough to abandon ship."