Conspiracy theorist aside, Governor Taseer's untimely murder assisted to some extent, in softening the stance of MQM. The ever fragile democracy of Pakistan was about to go into another downward spiral, but it seems like the train wreck was averted, at least for right now. The key words are for, "right now."
The concessions that PM Gilani made to bring back the estranged allies, are beyond common knowledge. Only his close associates, such as Mr. Interior Minister Rehman Malik aka Shaitan Malik, know the real story.
MQM should be credited for their usage of political leverage, which some call their, "bullying tactic", but in the end it brought the PM and his team to negotiate at MQM's turf. At least many believe, that there was more bargaining done, behind close doors, at least more than what meets the eye.
As usual the statements were vague. MQM decided to get back in the Gilani Express, as gasoline prices were rolled back to pre Jan 01 and the Government was going to make a concerted effort to end the monstrous corruption. Madam Secretary Clinton, gave the PPP led government an earful on how poor the gasoline price hike decision was. At least I would agree with some analysts, which was completely out of place, on Madam Secretary's part.
It appears that this train has been put back on a crooked track and the days ahead are going to be, to say the least very turbulent. MQM will maintain its hard line stance on any slipping of PPP. The clerics have decided to come out with another rally against blasphemy laws in a day or two. The killer of Mr. Taseer is being glorified by a certain segment of our lawyers and the media. Any sentence awarded to the accused will create a new fire storm in our bitterly divided nation.
PM Sahib may have taken a sigh of relief for the moment. Without sounding like a pessimist, I see some major malfunctions ahead for the Gilani Express. I sincerely hope that I am proven wrong.
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