Appointment of Vice President Xi Jinping to the post of Vice Chairman of Central Military Commission (CMC) in the recently concluded Fifth Plenum of the 17th Congress of CPC further indicates that the stage is ready for Mr. Xi to take up the cudgel from President Hu Jintao by 2012. Given the unstable and unprecedented conditions confronting China today, the highest political management of the country certainly would prefer choosing a consensus candidate as the next president and not indulge in power contests within the party for political succession.

There is something quite pathetic about the sensational confessions of a loquacious former military dictator harbouring fond, if utterly unrealistic, hopes of making a comeback in his country’s politics. Although Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s interview with Der Spiegel was full of self-serving half-truths, it nevertheless revealed the inherent shallowness of a military strongman. Peeling away his pretentions of being a statesman, the interview showed him up as a purveyor of kitsch politics. What is more, the interview reaffirmed Pakistan’s image as a rogue state.