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Beena Sarwar
Journalist in Karachi, Pakistan

There was no electricity at our place in Karachi yesterday but it was cool so we hadn't turned on our little generator. "Aren't you watching our president's speech on TV?" asked a friend on the phone.

On came the generator. Live on Geo, the TV channel that spearheaded the media boom under Musharraf, was the President in a dark western suit and tie (rather than the high-collared 'sherwani' that leaders tend to don when trying to appease nationalist or religious forces). The obligatory portrait of the country's founder (sherwani-clad) on the wall behind him, Musharraf was listing his government's achievements.

The economic achievements are tempered by rising inflation and increasing divide between the rich and poor but he made a couple of good moves when he restored the women's reserved seats in parliament and introduced thirty percent women's seats at the district level, as well as striking down the 'separate electorate system' that divided voters on religious grounds. Reminding people that he is a human being prone to make mistakes whose intentions were always noble, he thanked his mother, his wife, and his children for always standing by him.

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