Our tin-clad Generalissimo may not be blessed in his own talent or powers (if he were he wouldn’t be in the mess he is in) but he sure is blessed in the humbugs masquerading as the people’s champion. With a stellar cast that includes Benazir Bhutto, one thing in the morning and another in the evening, and Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the deadliest secret weapon in Musharraf’s arsenal, it is no wonder the opposition parties are in such a state of confusion.

But if they are not to miss the bus altogether they better make up their minds quickly. The Generalissimo, political genius that he is, has put himself in a desperate hole and the only way he can get out is if the opposition parties are foolish enough to fall into the trap of his Jan. 8 election. If they participate, Musharraf is home and dry, the crisis he faces abating. But if they have sense not to, the election will lose all credibility and the hole the general is in will become deeper.

Repression can’t be kept up indefinitely. People can’t be locked up all the time. Even the police get tired in the end and the army seems not in a mood to behave like the Myanmar army. If the political class and the intelligentsia are in a state of shock it should be of some consolation for them to know that Musharraf and coterie are also not having much fun. What is the fun of being absolute ruler when assailed from all sides, enduring lectures from the likes of John Negroponte and having to plead with the Saudis to keep Nawaz Sharif in the Holy Land?

There are real ‘strongmen’ and there is then the tinpot variety, helpless and distraught when the weather turns wet, as it has for the paladins of this setup. Amazing, isn’t it, that Nawaz Sharif should prey so much on their nerves? Amazing too that they should be afraid of so many shadows. Afraid of My Lord Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, afraid of Justice Ramday, Rana Bhagwandas, retired Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed, Muneer Malik, fiery Ali Ahmed Kurd, Aitzaz Ahsan.

Power becomes a poisoned chalice when there are so many ghosts at the feast to be terrified of. Even the great Hakim Luqman, it is said, had no cure for wehm (suspicion or the fear of the unknown). For the paranoia gripping Islamabad there is also no cure. The president has issued an ordinance amending the Constitution whereby no action of his post-Nov. 3 can be challenged in any court of law.

He can issue a hundred ordinances and amend the Constitution a hundred times but the fears preying on him, and of which he is already a victim, will not go away. A hundred Sharifuddin Pirzadas can be set to work day and night to amend the Constitution in the president’s favour, the entire commando strength of the Pakistan army can be deployed around Army House, still those fears will not depart. According to Chinese tradition, a ruler losing the mandate of heaven is doomed.

Courage not fine speeches is what we need and if Nov. 3’s neo-martial law has thrown up chicanery and brutality in ample measure, this most glorious of years in our history, 2007, has thrown up a new leadership consisting of judges, lawyers, civil society activists, and a new breed of students. In this lies our hope for the future. But first a clear decision regarding the forthcoming election.

Ayaz, a columnist for Dawn, writes for THT from Islamabad