The impossible seems to have happened in Pakistan with former army chief, President Musharraf finally agreeing to become Mr Musharraf.

The question now is: what will tomorrow bring for Pakistan now that a military dictator has been pushed out? Will the country see more balanced and sane politics? Will civil-military relations change for the better?

Although there is a great sense of relief at Musharraf’s departure, there is also concern about what the future holds for the people. Will the coalition stay together, especially on the issue of selecting the next president and restoration of the judiciary?

In the short term, the biggest test is selecting a fairly neutral person as the president. Pakistan has a tradition of both strong and weak presidents. The strong presidents have always been army men, while the only weak president who also completed his term was Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry who served in the position during the tenure of a strong politician, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. The presidents during the 1990s, on the other hand, were unstable. In this case, the coalition between the PPP and PML-N could come under pressure.

The presidency has served as a critical point of contact between the military and civilian stakeholders. This is another relationship which needs to be strengthened to the advantage of the political government. But the military in today’s Pakistan is not any weaker than when Musharraf took over in 1999. It has been moved to the backbenches due to the sensitivity of the moment. However, whether it remains in the background or asserts itself depends on the performance of the civilian regime.

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