Well if reports and rumours are to be believed General Musharraf seems all set to end his self-imposed exile. He has been making statements in the media to that effect for quite some time but gave another unequivocal statement the other day saying that he would return a week after the formation of the caretaker government. Not only that. He stated it loudly that he would also contest elections, face the courts and the charges levelled against him. He could land in Karachi or Rawalpindi, he said, constituencies where perhaps he is hoping not to run into unruly crowds. It looks ironic that he is expecting to get justice from the courts and judges, he placed under an emergency, yet if the contention that justice is blind is taken as true, he should have all the more reason to trust the judiciary for its impartiality.
And why he has chosen that particular timing, it is unclear precisely; nonetheless it shows that he has on his mind the prospect of playing his innings in the coming elections. Though the odds on him for making his mark in the electoral fight are not very promising, it is being speculated that his presence would register its impact on the national politics. It is easy to do politics from the safety of distant lands, but an altogether new proposition when done back at home. The tendency to seek asylum is not the best strategy to win votes. The General should, hence, return and face the charges.