BETTER late than never. Pervez Musharraf has taken a 'rational' decision to finally resign and say goodbye to the people of Pakistan. It is all history now and a progressive nation has to look into the future, especially the Pakistanis who are in a dire need to reverse the current situation they are in.

The next logical step is to immediately reinstate the Nov 3 judiciary through an executive order so that all heads (especially the rulers) be put together to take the country out of economic disaster we are currently facing.

The coalition will have to burn the midnight oil without looking right or left, avoiding unnecessary foreign trips, economising in all aspects and, above all, with an honest determination to reverse the tide.

I am sure the nation has the resilience provided our leaders set a good example. After all, it is not our fate to always remain at the lowest ebb of the world. May God help us again at this crucial moment of our life.

M. IRSHAD JANKarachi

(II)

IN response to president Musharaf's last public speech on television wherein he claimed that he might have made mistakes but his intentions must not be doubted. All he has done was in the best interest of the country. Even he claimed to resign in the best national interest.

I am very much confused and unable to understand the true meaning of or the 'best interest of the country'. The main confusion is created by the following actions of former president Musharraf

— Dissolution of democratic government of Nawaz Sharif in 1999 and military takeover.

— Introduction of one-man rule through notorious LFO and PCO.

— Sacking of legitimate chief justice of Pakistan without following any procedure in this regard.

— Imposition of emergency and packing off the independent judiciary and sending home 60 judges.

— Filling in the vacant positions in the judiciary by bringing in some handpicked judges.

— Manipulation of his election as president in uniform for next five years, by a parliament whose tenure was about to expire and which could not pass an annual budget for the next year.

— Continuation as president in spite of televised pledge that in case his supporters did not succeed in the February 2008 polls, he would quit.

After learning of these actions of the former president, one is unable to understand the so-called expression of or 'the best national interests' in these actions. On the contrary, it proved to be the other way round. He only resigned at the very last moment, when all his efforts to stick to power failed.

AZAHAR HUSSAIN GHUMRO

Via email

(III)

WITH Pervez Musharraf now a part of our chequered political history, politicians are standing at the crossroads, with one way leading towards reconciliation, rebuilding and not repeating past mistakes, and the other being a path that has been often travelled by politician — that of power struggle, plunder and personal gratification.

It is because almost all leaders, elected or otherwise, have always travelled on the second path that our country is today in such a terrible state and the people so dejected and miserable. It is time to take the path less travelled.

While one is not hopeful that the current crop of leaders will not repeat their past poor performances, we hope that they realise that now the country cannot withstand any more jolts to its shaky structure which can come crumbling down anytime.

There are many pressing national issues that need to be addressed immediately, and the politicians in power should abstain from a politics of revenge and start to focus on stabilising the economy, improving law and order, curbing the rising inflation, gaining public trust and improving its image internationally.

We, the powerless people of Pakistan, are desperate to see stability and peace in our country. While our leaders, who are responsible for the chaos in the country, have the luxury of going into exile to Saudi Arabia, Dubai, the UK and the US, we have no other place to go to and no other home.

SYED AHZAM AHMED

Karachi