End of the days play!

[khalid Hassan]

Another sad day in the history of Pakistan, I really feel bad about what happen today. No matter what Pres. Musharraf did in his 9 years tenure, of course it can’t be totally correct or justified, but it is an undeniable truth that the progress we made as a nation and the development Pakistan has seen in these years is remarkable. There are few questionable things that happened in his era but I am sure that the situation would have been worse if either of the two current crooks were there instead. The ironic part is, people don't realize that the so called democratic forces in our country don't have any competent personality that can lead the nation to the challenges of these difficult times. Those morons who are dancing on the streets on his resignation will know pretty soon that the crooks of all times will drag the nation to its sorry state again in no time.

[Riaz Haq]

It is definitely end of an era. Immediately, I expect a new wave of instability and chaos. But, longer term, it could be positive depending on how Pakistanis and their civilian leadership behave themselves. Here's an excerpt from a piece I wrote recently:

Musharraf's resignation seems likely to trigger a new wave of instability in Pakistan as the two main parties in the coalition government jockey for his share of power. It would also remove from the political stage the man who has become a favorite whipping boy for various groups including the lawyers, the rights activists, the Islamic radicals, and the politicians of various stripes, brought together by nothing more than their common hatred of Musharraf. Once these diverse elements accomplish this goal, each of them will, in all likelihood, continue to agitate for their own separate, conflicting agendas, contributing to greater instability. Ironically, this resignation will shine the spotlight with greater intensity on the incompetence and corruption of the new civilian leadership as people demand solutions to their real problems such as high inflation, unemployment, security and serious ongoing power outages.

While accountability of its leaders is healthy for a nation, the process must be fairly implemented and no one should be above the law. The process should be designed to improve the overall quality of governance in Pakistan. Musharraf, Sharif, Zardari and others must all be held equally accountable for their current and pass actions for the process of accountability to be fair and balanced.