He told one interviewer that he would leave power when he is convinced that the people of Pakistan want him to quit. But it would only be his “feeling”, not the results of an election or opinion poll that would determine when the people no longer support him. Such reasoning might have impressed Musharraf’s own entourage, it only attracted sighs or giggles from outsiders.

When Nik Gowing of BBC World TV asked him about the statement by 100 retired senior military officers demanding his resignation, Musharraf’s response was that only 10 people had signed the statement. This made him appear like a ruler out of touch with reality. His description of the statement’s signatories as “insignificant personalities” some of whom had “served under me and I kicked them out” showed him to be arrogant. The dignified response from Musharraf to a statement by senior retired military men would have been silence.

On the occasion of Musharraf’s meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at 10 Downing Street, the media reported that 30 pro-Musharraf demonstrators showed up with his portraits to face several hundred opponents.

The one is to 10 ratio of supporters to opponents in Londonistan exposed Musharraf’s lack of support in Pakistan even further.

The writer is director of Boston University’s Centre for International Relations haqqani@bu.edu