Delhi: His return was an example of grievous political misjudgement, his exit may be one of political expediency – on everybody’s side.
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Pakistan’s former army chief and president Pervez Musharraf, if persistent rumours are to be believed, will not be in the country very much longer.
The fallen dictator has been ordered to appear in court - again - on Thursday morning, to answer charges of treason.
But few in Pakistan expect him to turn up. His previous appearances have been abandoned, always at the last minute, by explosives being found on his route to court or by a mysterious and sudden “serious heart attack”.
His lawyers argue he is too unwell to face court and that the charges against him amount to little more than a show trial. The bench is insistent he appears.
Mr Musharraf’s return to Pakistan has been, by any measure, an unmitigated disaster.
He returned last year from more than four years in self-imposed and comfortable exile in London and Dubai, claiming he would contest elections and legitimately reclaim the presidency he seized in a bloodless coup in 1999.
The courts barred him from running in the poll, and his party bombed at the ballot box.
Then he was arrested and charged with treason for forcibly taking control of the country and jettisoning the constitution, charges which are punishable by death.
There is personal animus to add to the indignity of Mr Musharraf’s arrest. The man who won last year's election, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, is the very same person Mr Musharraf deposed 15 years ago.
Then, Mr Musharraf allowed Mr Sharif and his family to slip out of the country to escape charges of terrorism and hijacking (of then General Musharraf’s plane, which Mr Sharif tried to stop from landing in the country).
There is a growing expectation in Pakistan that Mr Sharif might return the favour.
“The trial is going ahead, but the possibility is there, a strong possibility, that Musharraf will be allowed leave the country,” a court source told Fairfax Media in Islamabad.
“He might be allowed to leave for medical treatment in Dubai, but then he will be gone from Pakistan.”
This is a trial few in Pakistan are interested in seeing take place.
On issues such as terrorism, drone strikes, the US relationship and Osama bin Laden, Mr Musharraf knows too much that too many people still in positions of influence would prefer remained secret.
Mr Musharraf also still inspires fierce loyalty within Pakistan’s politically powerful military.
His lawyer, Ahmed Raza Kasuri, hinted darkly at this when he said the prosecution was merely trying to embarrass Mr Musharraf, adding: "We will not tolerate the humiliation of our army."
Mr Musharraf is under house arrest. His wife, who is in Dubai, has asked that he be allowed to leave Pakistan to receive medical treatment, and increasingly, this appears the most likely course of action.
It’s a very Pakistani solution, one from which both sides will seek to claim a measure of honour.
Mr Musharraf disappears, never to return again, and the problem of his trial - and his treason - goes away.
@SouthAsiaCorro
