But Sharif is still not happy. He wants the old judges restored at once. And he wants the president’s power to dismiss parliament — which Musharraf awarded himself — clipped by a constitutional amendment. Zardari is willing to have most of the judges back, but not their irascible leader, Iftikhar Chaudhry. He may also fancy the presidency for himself. If Sharif will not compromise on the judges, Zardari may even take it: the PPP might have enough votes, in an electoral college of the four provincial assemblies and national parliament. In that case, Zardari might be loth to dilute the president’s powers first —though he has sworn to do so.

Musharraf goes at a time of alarming instability in Pakistan. With inflation officially at 24 per cent, and food prices rising faster, the economy is stricken. The violent north-west is screaming for more enlightened and steadier policies than the army has applied. But after nine years of being hounded, divided and abused by Musharraf and his men, the politicians’ erratic performance is not surprising. Above all, Pakistan needs confidence in its democratic system, including its capacity to keep its army in check. Under Musharraf, this was unimaginable.

Not that he recognised it. To the end, he considered himself a promulgator of the “essence of democracy”. Musharraf referred to this concept in his speech while claiming credit for having boosted women’s rights, local governments and other equitable things. And so he did, sometimes successfully. But two tawdry facts remained: Musharraf had never won an unrigged election; and had long been unpopular. He has now been slung out by the first fairly-elected government permitted on his watch. That is democratic.