Comment by Riaz Haq on August 18, 2008 at 10:52pm

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.

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