Fear

I never thought I would share the words of Nawaz Sharif, but I'm going to. "This is a dark, ddddaark, day for Pakistan"

Mr Ten Percent has declared Bilawal the new leader of the PPP. Of course Zardari is not known as Mr Ten Percent for no reason, and in a cunning move, has rebranded all his children Butto. A real stroke of genius. A bit like rebranding Daewoo as Chevrolet. Interestingly though, Bilawal cannot speak the language of his country. Mind you, this only confirms the hatred this family now has for the country (Unlike Zulfikar sahib). After all, what kind of an attachment can a person have to a country if he could not even bother learn that country's language. He's had 19 years of opportunity. He is simply carrying on the legacy of his mother though who was willing to hand over her country to the West. Zardari too continues this, even today very clearly inviting outsiders to investigate Bhutto's assassination.

Ah well. At least Bilawal won't have to worry about looking for a job now, after he's graduated. That's a load off his mind I bet.

The rebranding exercise perfectly symbolises the fact that the illiterate masses will follow the hollow promises of a Bhutto, like a beacon of light shining bright in the dark, regardless of past experiences.

Furthermore, this move confirms that Bhutto never had any interest in democracy. Surely, if she did, she would have requested a democratically elected leader of the PPP? This further confirms how hollow their arguments are - they have based their whole campaigns on the removal of an "undemocratically" elected leader, yet in their own scenario, have simply anointed a homegrown leader.

Based on this, I would say then, the Pakistani people deserve everything coming to them if the PPP take control of Pakistan. I genuinely fear for the long term development of our country if they simply continue from where they left off last time. They used Pakistan as their personal bank account before. They will again. The actual assassination is a sign of things to come, in terms of the economy. With a GDP of around $440 Billion (The UK's is almost $2 Trillion), this equates to around $600 million, per working day. Furthermore, Pakistan operates on an average tax-to-GDP ratio of 10%, resulting in a simple loss to the nation of $1.8 Billion. Please don't take me to be holding Benazir responsible for this, she didn't ask for three days of mourning. It's just this shows the immediate financial impact on the country. This doesn't even take into account the falls in the stock markets, and investor confidence. Furthermore, the financial cost to the rioting will easily run into hundreds of millions, but spare a thought for the ordinary civilians whose cars for examples, have been set a blaze by the mindless; there is no concept of motor insurance in Pakistan. Time for a new car then.

This sentiment is shared by Reuters; "Pakistan's brief period as a destination for adventurous investors seems over for now".

I've said it before, but Pakistan's underlying institutions, and cash reserves of $15 billion, are now strong enough to prevent a repetition of past events, thanks to Musharraf sahib; I just hope they don't crumble under the pressure.

I bet, that secretly, Musharraf sahib is secretly wishing he didn't take his uniform off now.