The 2013 Pakistan election is over. It has been a momentous election and the first time an elected civilian government has handed power to another civilian government. The winner is the ' lion of Punjabi' Nawaz Shariff. His party has emerged as the party with the largest number of seats in the National Assembly.
The road to the road reins of power will be with Nawaz, but he will be wary. He has been Prime Minister twice earlier. The last time he was Prime Minister he was undermined by his own Army chief General Parvez Musharaff. Firstly unknown to Shariff, he
launched the Kagil war against India and secondly when Shariff tried to replace him as army chief, he carried out a military coup and put Shariff in jail. Poor Nawaz had to endure 8 years of exile after that. To top it the Pakistan Supreme Court justified the military coup under the' doctrine of necessity'.The army is wary of Shariff and Shariff will have to be on guard. However the scenario has undergone a change and that will favor Shariff. The Pakistan Supreme Court is no longer a rubber stamp. The present Chief Justice I Choudhry is a man with a mission. He has already debunked the DOCTRINE OF NECESSITY and he has acted against Musharaff who is under arrest. The people will also not accept military rule as the mood is of freedom and democracy. Thus Shariff is on a stronger wicket.
The army remains a power center and Shariff will have to factor this fact in his calculations. Come what may Shariff will have to curtail the power of the generals. This time one hopes Shariff will be a winner for the sake of Pakistan.