president on a razor thin margin. But we don't see their lawyers, judges, and ex-servicemen making a joke out of their homeland before the whole world.
And the world is watching the gross failures of leadership in Pakistan. Those who are not amused are disgusted. In Saudi Arabia, an Arab reporter showed his frustration at Pakistani affairs by asking the visiting Pakistani prime minister why his country can't have stability like India does. Yousuf Raza Gilani, our prime minister, replied with a line befitting a party worker and not the chief executive of a nation. He said it's because military interventions aborted democracy many times in Pakistan and that his party founder and his daughter paid with their lives for democracy.
No Mr Prime Minister. If there is instability in Pakistan, it is mainly because of the substandard quality of leadership that politicians have been giving us so far. Those who practise politics here do it with a 'hooliganistic mindset' that leaves no room for stability. The past three months since the general election are a telling story of leadership failure, and they strengthen the case of hawks who say Pakistan is ripe for a complete change not just in faces but in its entire political system.
In our suicidal politics, even military secrets are not sacred anymore. We have taken freedom of expression to dizzying heights. Those who are encouraging retired military personnel to come out on television and ridicule their former bosses are playing with fire and are setting the stage for politicizing the Pakistani military, which will prove disastrous for our country.
These days, President Musharraf, an upright soldier of Pakistan who gave his best, is under attack from all sides. With a stroke of a pen, he gave birth to Pakistan's vibrant television news business. Today, when he needs support, he doesn't even have people on his payroll – like dictators normally do - who could get his side of the story out. He never did. If that was his style, independent news channels wouldn't be out there today without kickbacks paid into some offshore company account.
Pakistan is a resilient nation and it will survive with or without all those who are in power in Islamabad today, including the president. But here's something that all Pakistanis should remember: Pakistan can live with an imperfect political system, but not a failed one. It just is not in our interest. And patriotic, nationalist Pakistanis will not let their nation go down. Period.
The writer works for Geo TV. aqahmedquraishi.com