Mush’s show

You were invited

Former president Pervez Musharraf pulled an Altaf on his supporters in Karachi the other day where he had the first big political rally. The generalissimo interacted with his fans through video phone.

Though by no stretch was the gathering as large as what the APML was expecting, it wasn’t embarrassingly small either. Even if one believes the retired general does not (or never did) have a large enough fan base, the law of large numbers can explain away the presence of the crowd. In one of the biggest cities of the world, even a sliver proportion can come out to be a large enough crowd. Just to put things into context: the gathering of the Bengali Ittehad Council that day put together a comparable, if not more impressive, show the same day.

Though Mr Musharraf’s constituency is most often pointed out as that of the MQM, it is actually the PTI that has encroached upon his turf. Much might be made of the politicians of his king’s party making their way into the PTI, but it is the demographic itself that has shifted away. Musharraf’s ideological supporters were also limited to the urban middle-classes. Inherently anti-politician, these were people who had perhaps never voted in their lives. With this encroachment comes resentment. I have played a full innings once before, he said at the rally, but people who have never had a shot are pretending to be experts these days. A barb most obviously not meant for the PPP or the PML(N). Whether personalities’ gripes trump the issues is another matter but natural allies they are.

The MQM itself is consistent in its support. The party welcomed him in the country at a time when the main government and opposition parties issued caustic statements against him. The general wears as proudly the development work in Karachi as the MQM itself. It remains to be seen what the relationship between the two will be in the future.

The powers that be have placed their bets on another horse and this is a filly past its prime. The messiah complex causes devastation when an individual is in power. And is embarrassing to watch when that individual isn’t in power. Nevertheless, the former president has done his math and thinks he has a shot and that is what counts. Having more parties in the political process is always a good idea.