America146;s vote

Those elections, Daily Times on Friday quoted sources as saying after Musharraf8217;s meeting with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, could be considerably advanced. In the Friday Times, Najam Sethi had anticipated the development. 8220;The Supreme Court is expected to decide the CJP chief justice case within a week or two. If the CJP is restored, its fallout would be akin to a vote of no-confidence in the government, So General Musharraf is compelled to seriously ponder a dissolution of parliament soon and early general elections, around September-October.8221; He went on to explain Musharraf8217;s constitutional dilemma: 8220;Given the constitutional necessity of relinquishing charge as army chief before end 2007, he can resolve the uniform issue 8216;constitutionally8217; only by getting parliament to amend the law that enables him to be both president and army chief at the same time8230; the law regarding the status of the job of the army chief whether or not it was a job of profit in the service of Pakistan was temporarily changed by a simple parliamentary majority so that he could hold two offices until 2007. Thus the resolution of this issue after the next presidential and general elections will depend on the respective strength and bargaining position of the

PMLQ and the PPP.8221;

Five-year ruse

8226; Where then does this leave the so-called power-sharing deal between Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif? On Tuesday, Daily Times picked apart the story, generated by her interview to a London daily that she had a 8220;verbal8221; agreement with Sharif that she8217;d get to rule Pakistan for five years, and then it would be his turn.

According to the editorial: 8220;An agreement of this sort8230; is not

possible unless the parties make a pre-election merger or decide to vote in a certain way in the new parliament in violation of the wishes of the voters. Any kind of arrangement announced to the voting public will affect the fortunes of the lesser party.8221;

Missile or bomb

8226; On Wednesday Dawn reported that a 8220;missile8221; hit a cluster of compounds in North Waziristan8217;s Datakhel area, on the border with Afghanistan, killing 22. By the next day, the toll was said to have crossed 30, and the cause of the destruction was being disputed. By Thursday8217;s Dawn editorial: 8220;There are at least three versions of what actually caused it. According to the residents, missiles from across the border had hit a madressah in the area that led to the death of a number of people. The Pakistan army spokesman insists that the blast was accidental and occurred when some militants were making explosives. The US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan have categorically denied that they had fired any missile. Who is to be believed?8221; If the government was correct, it argued, questions would be raised about the presence of foreigners in the region, since the bomb-makers are claimed to be Uzbeks. If, however, innocent persons had been killed in a missile strike from across the border, questions would be raised about the way in which the 8220;war on terror8221; was being waged in the tribal areas. But more than anything else, it

concluded, the incident should provoke a rethink on Islamabad8217;s administrative policy in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

No Sir, Salman?

8226; Also in Friday8217;s Dawn: Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim lodged a unique protest against Salman Rushdie8217;s knighthood. He 8220;renounced8221; titles bestowed on his relatives by the British: 8220;the medal given to his grandfather Arbab Mir Mohammad by King George VI on May 12, 1937, and the title of Khan Sahib awarded to his uncle Arbab Togachi by the British government in Delhi on January 1, 1945.8221;