The puppetry of Pakistani politics moves on. The puppeteer, for the time being, has managed to reshuffle the puppets – political parties and their heads – according to the internationally-sanctioned game-plan.” Like-minded forces – however unequal – are pretending to resist and fight forces of obscurantism. All in the name of national interest.
The uniform is gone. So is the emergency.  But at what cost? Regardless of the results of the Jan 8 elections, the new scheme – being implemented by mighty establishment – the puppeteer with the help of old puppets - Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif - is nothing more than another incision into Pakistan’s already fractured political scenario, largely to the detriment of the civil, democratic society, which has yet to swallow the fact that the almost five dozen senior judges of the superior judges became the direct victim of this scheme (Nov 3, state of emergency proclamation).
The scheme -- reshuffling of the puppets -- also heralded the change of loyalties and parties, with leaders abandoning one and flocking to the other party. Consequence; more encouragement and room for conformists, apologists and opportunists, whose movement from one to the other party essentially further weakened political forces.
Consider this; soon after the ouster of premier Nawaz Sharif, efforts to fracture his Pakistan Muslim League began, and shortly before the Oct 2002 elections, culminated in the creation of the Q-League, also known as the King’s party. A massive wave of opportunists switched sides and walked over to the Q-League to benefit from the largess of the Establishment. The elections resulted in a landslide victory for the Q-League, but at the cost of the popular N-League. A popular formidable party thus lost to the almighty power-wielders. The establishment won again
At the same time, another popular Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP-P), suffered the same fate, when the king-makers wooed 19 of PPP-MPs into the creation of another faction i.e. PPP-Patriots. Yet another blow to one of the two largest grass-roots parties, and triumph for the establishment.
Following the government decision to allow both Bhutto and Sharif return to Pakistan, both the Q-League and the Bhutto PPP went under the axe again just because the puppeteer wanted to assign new tasks and identities to some of the puppets – all the action driven by the new-found ground realities and  dictated by country’s international obligations.
The new adjustment game plan is likely to entail graver consequences for democratic forces, and deliver further blows to political parties. Imagine; sensing the direction of the wind, a number of Q-League members have either joined the Bhutto-PPP or the Nawaz League. After the elections, the march of opportunism will most likely intensify.
People like Aitzaz Ahsan have already become prays of the new game. But never mind. Bhutto, Sharif, and the Awami National Party have all worked as adrenaline for the puppeteer by agreeing to participate in the elections. Forget that soon after  the Oct 1999, the puppeteer had launched  a vicious character assassination campaign against both Bhutto and Sharifs.
The realignments appear “progressive and purpose-oriented” but their consequence for the country’s political forces is certainly not; more fragmentation means weakening the parties further, thereby eliminating the challenge by a big popular political force or alliance. The major beneficiaries of the emerging scenario will of course be the military establishment  - juggling and playing with the puppets as and when it pleases.
Ms Bhutto also an ex small-time official Rehman Malik for dealing with the puppeteer and it came through as nothing less than a farce that senior party leaders including Amin Faheem, appeared shocked when they found out Mr. Malik had accompanied Bhutto to Abu Dhabi for her deal talks in August.
That a former, rather notorious government official became the most trusted aide to Ms Bhutto also reflects on the preferred choices of the establishment.
Reports from London had suggested that Malik in fact upstaged all others – apparently even Ms Nahid Khan – as far as access to Bhutto is concerned. Some of the leaders confided to friends in Karachi and Islamabad that they had had to wait outside Malik’s home for hours for a meeting with Bhutto, particularly when she was in London. Basically, you need to dig in your heels outside and wait for his nod for an audience with the leader, said a friend.  These reports had sent waves of anger among party ranks, and also reflect another bitter reality; the wheelers and dealers are not politicians but former bureaucrats – either formerly or currently associated with security or other state agencies.  This again underscores the long arms of the establishment, which willfully uses and abuses puppets whenever it deems fit to do so.
While the Musharraf-Bhutto-Sharif-Falzur Rehman cohabitation formula for the pre and post-election scenario may appear well intended, and arouse optimism for an effective combination to contain “extremism, terrorism and ensure good governance”, it hardly bodes well for the democratic forces. That they will remain hamstrung and at the mercy of the establishment, needs no explanation. 
Regardless of whether Bhutto becomes the prime minister for a third time, the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) as well as the post Nov 3 actions and constitutional amendments have all raised serious legal questions about the writ and respect for rule of law in the country.
The common man certainly views these developments with great skepticism. If all goes well for Ms Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif, this will also embolden the common man to ask about the merit and claims of justice. And this view about the state does not augur well for future because it dispirits the people at large and makes them ever more suspicious and skeptical of the state of Pakistan, where once again the Puppeteer is having the last laugh. Mr Sheikh Rasheed, the ex info and railways minister, believes even after all these “sacrifices by Bhutto and Sharif”, the next government is not likely to survive for more than two years. Alas!