The endgame in Pakistan has begun. With the return of Benazir Bhutto from exile, the political arena is now being prepared for the first full-bloodied (pun un-intended) general elections in the country after a gap of 10 years. But it's not going be a straight fight between any two parties. All that one can say right now is that the Pakistan People's Party is set to be one of the chief contenders in the ring. Now that Karachi has received its BB, Lahore can't wait to receive its very own exiled-leader. Mian Nawaz Sharif might book a flight for home before the winters set in. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has already sent out a carefully-worded invitation for a re-union.

But after years of exile of their leaders, either of the two traditional rivals, PPP and the PML, will find it difficult to get a clear majority in Parliament. After all, there are many players in the ring that enjoy strong support in their respective corners. MQM in Sindh, MMA and ANP in NWFP, Balochistan's local parties and not to forget Imran Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaaf, which can make a substantial dent in the final tally.

The politically-charged legal fraternity may not succeed at the ballot, but they too will leave an imprint on the final mandate. In the coming months, political Mergers and Acquisitions are expected to happen resulting in ittehaads or 'coalitions'. The final result, it seems, will be something on the lines of the 'mili-juli sarkar' as we have in India. A lot will depend on how far the parties are willing to trust each other. In India, we call this guiding principal - the Coalition Dharma. We will have to watch how will Pakistani leaders will observe this Dharma, or Coalition Iman if you like.

PhD in Common Sense

I am here to attend a South Asian Journalists' Conference. In one of the lectures, the speaker sermonised that the one and only degree that makes a good journalist is a PhD in common sense. Knowing what-it's-like-when-the-news-breaks, this point really made a lot of sense to me. In Pakistan, private-owned TV news channels have mushroomed in the last couple of years and the newsrooms are buzzing with action 24x7. With so much action happening on board international flights, airports and inside courtrooms, traditional rules of journalism are being re-written. Scribes now carry office-sponsored Blackberrys, so that they can record images and send them across as MMS in emergency cases from place where it's impossible to carry a regular camera. Common sense, isn't it?

The most dangerous place on earth!

This is what NEWSWEEK called Pakistan in its last issue. A day after I read this report, I landed in Lahore. And as we drove down from the airport to our hosts in model town, I felt that the American weekly might have got it wrong. In Delhi, if there is one word (hyphenated) that sends a chill down the spines of the people on the roads, it is 'BLUELINE'. We have over hundreds of these monsters prowling on our streets, but in the three days I have spent in Lahore, I am yet to see one. With all due respect to the NEWSWEEK reporters, they seem to have over-estimated when they dubbed Pakistan the most dangerous place on Earth.