This was by all means an extension of the bungling of the interior ministry’s initial explanation as to the cause of Bhutto’s death on December 27. The ridiculous theories had to be withdrawn in view of their total lack of credibility, which had further fanned public anger.

The president defended, with some justification, the postponement of elections from January 8 to February 18. Given the ransacking of the election commission offices by angry mobs across the country, logistics may simply not be in place by January 8 to hold the election as originally planned. This was a credible assessment, notwithstanding the PPP and the PML-Nawaz’s somewhat unrealistic demand that the polls be held in January. The postponement by 40 days is also in view of the upcoming holy month of Muharram when Shias across the country take out mourning processions to commemorate the martyrdom of Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Hussain.

Meanwhile, a week after Pakistan’s most popular leader’s assassination, disgust is the word that continues to describe the overall public mood, even though life struggles to get back to normalcy. But it just isn’t the same country any more. The forthcoming election, without Bhutto around, will be less so.

Pakistan politics once again lies in complete disarray. With Bhutto put out of the way, there is no leader to stand up to growing extremism. Musharraf has so far only identified, time and again, the seriousness of the threat posed to the state by religious fanatics — read Al-Qaeda — but he has been lacking Bhutto’s commitment to root out extremism as seen in the PPP leader’s last held election campaigns. That remains a very slippery ground on which to tread, for Musharraf, and for everyone else taking part in the February election.

... contd.