As a against high profile 3 days to India, he gave just a few hours to Pakistan during which he lectured Musharraf to tow the American line or face international isolation.
Musharraf's take-over was not a premeditated coup, but forced upon the army by Nawaz's folly. We had democracy, but in his delusions of grandeur Nawaz had failed to appreciate that in Pakistan the real power always rested with the military. Perhaps he had forgotten that but for the patronage of the generals Jillani, Zia & Aslam Beg he would have remained a second class politician.
During the 2nd term of office as Prime Minister, the PLM-N's comfortable majority in the National Assembly had made Nawaz swollen headed. He had pushed through the parliament 13th amendment to curb the presidential powers under section 58-2B, and obtained resignation of Chief of the Army Staff who differed with him.
Later he tried to tame the judiciary. When the Chief Justice of Supreme Court stood firm, he resorted to goondaism by encouraging a raid on the august body to disrupt hearing of a case against him. He created circumstances to force President Laghari to leave and appointed Tarar, a family friend in his place. On Pakistan becoming a nuclear power he behaved as if he had personally manufactured and exploded the Bomb. When America applied sanctions, our economy came to a standstill.
In panic Nawaz froze foreign currency deposits bringing Pakistan's financial credibility into question. Finally his summary dismissal of Chief of the Army Staff became the last straw on the mountain of blunders. By now he had become so unpopular that not a single tear was shed on his removal. As a matter of fact the country considered it a good riddance and welcomed the military take-over.
On assuming power, Musharraf found that Pakistan was economically bankrupt, politically divided and socially disrupted. He was sincere when he launched a 7-point reform agenda to set thing right. But at the time he did not realise the gravity of the monumental task he had undertaken. I doubt if he had any chance of succeeding.
But as luck would have it, 9/11 catastrophe proved a blessing in disguise for him. America decided to attack Afghanistan to uproot Taleban and capture Osama. It needed Pakistan's help to wage the war.
In view of prevailing pro-Taleban sentiments in Pakistan, it was a difficult decision to abandon them. But Musharraf took the plunge keeping national interests uppermost in mind. The U-turn, though unpopular in the country, proved propitious for Pakistan as it enabled him to get firmly entrenched in the saddle.
This particular military take-over differed significantly from the earlier ones. Firstly no formal martial law was declared and there was no witch hunting. Of course Nawaz was arrested and put behind bars to face trial for endangering lives of a plane-load of a commercial flight by denying it permission to land in Karachi just because Musharraf happened to be on the same plane.
As corruption had become rampant, National Accountability Bureau was established to investigate the known corrupt which included Nawaz family. During the first 2 years it was heavy going for the new administration. The business community was averse to paying taxes which were now strictly recovered and the politicians lamented the loss of their clout.
But the general persisted and gradually the economy improved perceptibly. International debt was rescheduled and reshaped to get some relief. With liberalisation of Exchange Control Regulations, remittances of overseas Pakistanis increased.
The rupee got stronger and the foreign exchange reserves which had remained stagnant at 2 billion dollars began to rise. In the social field nothing much could be done as age-old prejudices did not allow the government to introduce reforms. In the meantime the fundamentalists and Madaris trained extremist militants were bent upon Jehadi mischief.
A terrorist attack on Indian Parliament created a major crisis for Pakistan. We came to the brink of an all out war with India which could have turned nuclear to cause devastation in both the countries. Thanks to diplomatic intervention by USA and UK, wiser counsels prevailed and the disaster was averted.
Given a longer time Musharraf would have done better. But under international and domestic pressure he was forced to revive democracy at the end of 3 years.
In order to keep PPP and PML-N out he had to resort to unsavoury politics by helping ascendancy of religious groups which tactic has misfired. Having tasted power hitherto denied to them, the Maulanas have become ambitious and greedy and are creating all sorts of trouble to frustrate his secular domestic dispensation and pro-American foreign policy.
They are also opposing a compromise settlement with India on Kashmir. Apparently MMA is campaigning in the name of unfettered democracy but the ulterior motive is to grab power with a view to establish theocracy in Pakistan. They are able to get away with unfair criticism as Musharraf has allowed complete freedom of expression to the citizens as also no restrictions have been placed on print and electronic media.
It is not realised that never before, even during Nawaz and BB rules such freedom prevailed.
Belatedly Musharraf has come to the conclusion that he has no alternative but to seek reconciliation with PPP and abandon MMA. BB is inclined to co-operate provided she is allowed to return to Pakistan on her own terms which Musharraf is not prepared to concede. A lot of moves are being made behind the scene beginning with Asif Zerdari's release. It now remains to be seen how the political cookie crumbles.