Today marks exactly a month since Pervez Musharraf stepped down as President of Pakistan. In this past month, PPP co-chairman Asif Zardari was elected as the new President of the country, nearly a dozen airstrikes by NATO forces have targetted suspected Taliban hideouts in Pakistan and one ground assault [the first reported one on Pakistani territory] by NATO and ISAF forces took place in the Angoor Adda village in South Waziristan. The casualties of the attacks have been many, and Pakistan has issued many a statement of condemnation, vowing to preserve whatever little is left of Pakistan’s sovereignty. A battle continues in the Bajaur agency, as the Pakistani Army steps up its operation against militants, leaving scores of people dead and displacing nearly hundreds of thousands.

This is just the tip of the iceberg - the economy remains in doldrums, the Pakistani rupee has sunk to all-new lows, and inflation and electricity shortages have made lives miserable for the citizens of the country.

While many Pakistani citizens did heave a sigh of relief that the once-adored, now-hated Musharraf stepped down from power, there is a sense of growing despair, that the country is sliding downwards...and there may be no return from this point.

The Pakistani government now has no roadblocks in its way - it has a President and a majority in the Parliament, yet inaction seems to be the buzzword of the day. The Pakistani government must realize that this is the only time they will have to rid the Constitution of the many amendments Musharraf made, and to start providing some relief to the people of the country. And last, but not the least, it must control the security situation in the tribal areas, before they lose all little control they have of the area and turn their public support, into public hate.