In Pakistan, like other Muslim countries, there is a lot of activity during the couple of months before the beginning of Ramadan. People are usually in a hurry to tie the knot before the start of the month for fasting. This year is no different except that the country is bracing for a grand political marriage of convenience between the country’s general-president and the largest national party, the Pakistan People’s Party. Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto recently met in the UAE.

Initially, the government and Benazir Bhutto were shy in admitting they had a political date in the UAE. For Musharraf, meeting Bhutto is a major climbdown from his earlier position of not allowing the PPP and PML-N leadership to return to the country. A secret deal makes him look weak. In fact, news about the meeting possibly leaked by the PPP was meant as a blow to his reputation which the general countered by encouraging stories that Benazir was ready to accept him in uniform.

However, the general is clearly driven by the urgency to find credible political partners in a situation where he appears increasingly isolated. His current partner, the PML-Q, was ineffective in fighting the political crisis that had grown around the issue of the chief justice’s dismissal in recent months. The general also finds himself hedged-in by the militants who are now eager to wage war against Islamabad. Furthermore, a political marriage with Bhutto is what Musharraf’s political masters in Washington expect him to do in order to save the country from slipping further towards religious extremism. It is believed that the Bhutto-Musharraf duo, which represents liberalism, can bring sanity to society.

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