Tid bits continue.

Tomorrow, or rather Today, is the Presidential Election....President General Pervez Musharraf seeks another mandate of five years.

The ruckus is about whether Mush can ask the 'outgoing' assembly to provide him the mandate for the next five years. That's what half the legal battle is about and the other half is about whether he can demand the outgoing assembly to give him the mandate 'with' the uniform. Whatever happens, it will be out in the open by the end of tomorrow, when the peoples' representatives go to the ballot box and cast their votes, the result of which - many commentators claim - is a foregone conclusion.

Just like the Supreme court verdict for the President Mush. Apparently, of the nine judges, six were Mush honchos. Hence, the six-three verdict. Which basically means, if you are corrupt, you're with Musharraf. Now I don't agree with such claims, but it has been gaining currency of late.

Benazir and her antics continue to defy the head. One moment she cries foul and claims talks between government and her party have completely stalled and the next there are rumour doing the round that she is all set to replace Shaukat Aziz as Musharraf's next PM.

The APDM - All Parties Democratic Conference - promises to put up a bold front but apparently, Mush has done enough tweaking and horse-trading to ensure that the assemblies will give him the mandate.

The MMA - the coalition of the Islamist parties - have taken everyone for a ride with their incessant promises....about resigning from the assemblies...but somehow or the other, they have made sure that they give in their resignation without letting it effect the presidential election - which incidentally was the 'generally accepted' purpose of the resignation. Funny things continue to happen.

Just like MQM filed a suit against Imran Khan for standing in elections because of his 'immoral relationship' with Sita White. A paternity suit was filed against Imran long time back, when he was first making forays into politics. It was disposed off. But MQM insisted but thankgod the election commission has more sense than Altaf and his henchmen.

The suit was filed in response to Imran Khan filing a suit against Altaf Hussain in England. And there's an online petition, too, if anyone is willing to risk it..

But back to the hackneyed. Pakistan lost the first test to South Africa after another inept display with the bat. God knows when will our administration and players learn. 20-20 joys are short-lived....and the nation is known for its amnesia. Thank god five-day tests are too much for their attention span or else Shoaib Malik's effigies would be in the street, turning into cinders next to George Bush.

So yes, we prepare for elections. And all else takes back-seat. The corruption cases, honour killings, abduction of innocents, incidents of security-agency highhandedness, contempt of court, murder on the street, teenagers raped and feudal flings has been forgotten as all the minds in the country are taxing themselves over the legal wranglings that everyone is apparently getting into it.

The Politicians are trying to get the best deal. The Army is ensuring that all the other forces are enforcing tight security and that their positions of power are not compromised - with or without Mush. The other security agencies are enforcing tight security. The Moulvis are making sure they deliver the sermon and tell the faithfuls about the virtues of voting for Moulvis. But the General elections have another month to go, or so the date says, and the Mouvis have enough time.

There was this Great debate on Geo - where there ar two sides 'Geo Musharraf' (literally 'LIVE MUSHARRAF' or otherwise 'WELL-BOWL MUSHY' - if you remember Moin khan..) and 'JEENAY DO MUSHARRAF' (Let Live Musharraf..) and the two sides were represented by the Government and Opposition ministers. Sheikh Rasheed was the funniest. Dr Salman Shah was a sloppy and tried to play the numbers game but Shaukat Tareen and company had done their job and ripped them apart.

I am going to sleep now. All this is pointless anyway. Need to get down to the basics. Stories that don't have faces. That's what we should concentrate upon. And not just faces. What a media!