Reconciliation is more likely among the opposition forces with a focus on the Charter of Democracy that Benazir Bhutto fashioned with Nawaz Sharif last year in their collective effort to reclaim the country from Musharraf’s arbitrary rule.
The signs are encouraging with Sharif and other opposition parties showing genuine solidarity with Bhutto’s party. We are unlikely to see that sort of rapprochement between the opposition parties and Musharraf’s camp, for the latter must account for how this tragedy happened under their rule.
There are, meanwhile, ominous signs of confrontation with the Musharraf regime, with tens of thousands of angry people in every corner of the country protesting the assassination of Pakistan’s only modern political figure. The only way out is holding credible free and fair elections and honouring the mandate of the people of Pakistan. Otherwise, the country might have to brace for greater unrest, violence and uncertainty, with fading hope in the ability of the current regime to return itself or the country back to normalcy.
The End
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