"Well, in one sense he is right, after all both parliament and the senate passed the bill allowing him to hold the two offices."
"Yes but he was the one who manipulated the political system and installed these people..."
"Excuse me, my friend. Lotaism was alive and well long before Musharraf made use of it. And what's more the ultimate responsibility for what has happened remains with politicians in general and Nawaz Sharif in particular..."
"In that he gave that extremely stupid order for the PIA plane carrying Musharraf back from Sri Lanka to land in India?"
"Nah not that, though that has its own place in the world's stupidest deeds! Nawaz is the one who actually, shall we say, consolidated Lotaism. I mean he spread it to all the forces in the country and so gave birth to the briefcase culture."
"Ah, I see. Musharraf also said he is a strong proponent of democracy and so wanted the assembly and the senate to complete their tenures."
"So they complete their tenures thus ensuring that Musharraf doesn't have to worry about another election where his present set of Lotas may not win and..."
"And that is the nice thing about Lotas. They are easy to replace and expendable. Besides this is after all the new and improved democracy."
"So what happened to the rapprochement efforts with members of the opposition?"
"Maulana and the Chosen One didn't agree on a deal."
"Well, that was not likely in any case. The Chosen One doesn't have the authority to make any deals."
"Yes, but AZ is off to see his children and he can return whenever he wants."
"So can BB but then they maybe incarcerated again."
"Ah, so the carrot and stick approach."
"Indeed."
"What about the strike action?"
"The opposition has come together for once, thank the Lord."
"So is that democracy or what? I mean would they be allowed to protest?"
"Nah. The Lotas in Punjab and Sindh will go for overkill. Arrests, abuses and all that will follow. The protest movement maybe labelled as anti-state or something."
"Indeed."
"But Musharraf talks of continuity and..."
"Come now, my friend. Apart from continuity of people anyone else becoming the President would have the same policies as those being currently followed. We have no other option. I mean be they economic, be they foreign policies, a Benazir Bhutto or a Nawaz Sharif can't deviate from these policies."
"So it boils down to who rules?"
"Indeed."
"And the one with the power rules?"
"The one with the two offices rules, yes."