Daily Times

The third time may work out as a charm for him. The new Prime Minister, Mr Nawaz Sharif, would definitely make history in the Promised Land. It is unprecedented and huge to see a prime minister make a comeback after almost 14 years. Many gifted writers and analysts have chalked out plans, strategies and predictions for the new premier. Yours truly will refrain from any such mundane mantra, as it is so predictable and mind-numbingly boring.

But yours truly sits and wonders about what would be the fate of some of the people after this comeback. Take President Zardari for example. It sure seems like that good sense has prevailed and he has decided to throw in the towel in September 2013 when his term is up. I would say it would be an extremely smart move. It is so blatantly obvious that he would have faced an uphill battle with the incoming administration. It also looks like that some birdy has told him that it is in his best interest to take a back seat in the affairs of his party and let perhaps someone else lead it from hereon. It would be wise for the president to reflect, and reflect hard, besides letting his wounds heal of a humiliating drubbing at the polls. On the plus side, the PPP is the only party with the ideological base in all four provinces and the Azad Kashmir. It is high time that it goes back to basics of uniting the entire country based on new ideas. It should not seek refuge in time tested clichés and lines of the 1970s and the 1980s. Granted that food, clothing and shelter are the basic human needs, but thankfully how many Pakistanis die of starvation or being homeless. The concept of socialism is on a decline, that too worldwide. Yes, the US may be the materialism capital of the world, but let’s be honest: we are extremely capitalistic to the core too. So can someone please get the party of the people out of its time capsule and let it go back to the people?

The other man, the so-called prisoner of Chak Shahzad, may be the one cursing his bloody stars. What fun his life was trotting around Dubai, London and New York! In between giving lectures to a ‘spellbound’ audience from the pages of ‘Staging Military Coups for Dummies’. Despite all rumors of friendly and brotherly nations’ intervention, he still smokes his cigars and enjoys his coffee in the confines of his sub-jail. If you were to smell what the social media is mumbling, it sure sounds like that rumors are flying, and a pardon may be in the offing. Needless to say that he is more of a distraction for the incoming PM and may garner undue attention. For his former institution, the former general is nothing more than a nuisance. You don’t need to be a genius to figure out that former institution loves its Pandora’s Box and certainly would not like a former general to either open, or for that matter, tinker with it.

Here comes the other former but this time a cricketer. His party has managed to score high in a singular province on a singularly radical claim of shooting down those pesky drones. One only wonders, either he is full of the champion’s ego or downright naive. One may safely assume that it is a case of all of the above. The whole scenario has been sold and resold to the keyboard jihadis and the over-zealous youth, as if a pair of sling shots would do the magic. The former skipper would be getting a rude awakening from the skies soon and he will be going about face as usual.

Getting back to the third timer, he has a wide array of issues ahead of him. In the last 14 years a lot has changed, but it is safe to say that he will be in much better shape than his predecessors. Mr Sharif has the majority in the National Assembly, the blessings of the friendly and brotherly nations, and yes, even the so-called enemies like him. He is the one who wants to initiate a dialogue with them as well. Speaking of the issues ahead of him, the issue of terror is at the forefront and the centre. So if he gets to initiate and advance a dialogue with these people, lo and behold, he would sure hit the jackpot.

Now that is where the assumption may be way too simplistic. Although a Maulana has volunteered to act as a facilitator and a go-between the incoming PM and the Taliban. It just leaves you a bit perplexed how the Maulana gets that coveted voluntary position and how does the hierarchy of the Taliban really works. I am afraid that the lucky third timer would not be so lucky when it comes to this overly tangled and wildly complex conundrum.

The writer is a Pakistani-American mortgage banker. He blogs at http://dasghar.blogspot.com and can be reached at dasghar@aol.com He tweets at http://twitter.com/dasghar