An East European on Eastern Europe-Interview with a Hungarian Economist

backing of the supposedly neutral Ghulam Ishaq Khan, the president of Pakistan, who played a dirty game in the process. He met secretly with the leaders of the MQM and encouraged them to join the COP, He had no business to get involved, but he showed his true colours in the process. The myth that the president was a 'mere' head of state with little ambition was put to rest. MQM had no problem leaving Benazir behind and embracing a combination of parties many of which the MQM leadership and particularly its cadre abhorred. The greatest irony of the union was that the MQM was now willing to sit with the Jamaat Islami, a party which its members despise more than any other.