NEW revelations in the Pervez Musharraf trial — revelations purporting to exonerate or lessen the burden of blame on the former dictator — seem exquisitely timed, with the protesters on Constitution Avenue seeking to ramp up their agitation once again after days of rain.

The discovery of a second letter that then-prime minister Shaukat Aziz is believed to have written to Mr Musharraf in the run-up to the imposition of the 2007 Emergency certainly buttresses the Musharraf camp’s argument that the former strongman did not act alone and was acting on the advice of his government in November 2007.

Also Read: Emergency imposed on ‘Shaukat’s advice’

The letter contains Mr Aziz’s clear advice to Mr Musharraf to impose an Emergency — unlike an earlier letter where no such explicit recommendation was given.

As such, the Musharraf defence team will likely once again try and highlight the so-called political nature of the trial on the grounds that only Mr Musharraf has been targeted and none of the other alleged co-conspirators have been hauled up.

Certainly, there are two aspects to the issue here.

First, the legal one. Whether Mr Musharraf received advice or not, whether he had any co-conspirators or not, the imposition of Emergency in November 2007 occurred when Pervez Musharraf in his capacity as chief of army staff signed on the dotted line.

That means regardless of who else may also have been responsible, Mr Musharraf certainly was — and all that remains to be determined in his case is whether the imposition of Emergency was a legal and constitutional act or not.

To allegedly act in good faith on bad advice if the aim and result is a gross violation of the Constitution is surely not a viable defence.

Also Read: Musharraf supports public’s demand for ‘change’

But there is clearly more to the Musharraf trial than just the legal issues at stake. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s personal decision to have Mr Musharraf tried, the army leadership’s reluctance to accept a Musharraf trial and the resultant civil-military tension are clearly — even if they shouldn’t be — factors in what will happen eventually to a Musharraf trial, to the Sharif government — perhaps even to the democratic system itself.

The second letter that has now mysteriously emerged will energise Mr Musharraf’s defence and further events in the days ahead may suggest a path is being paved for an exit from the country for the former army chief.

Only time will tell whether or not the PML-N government can fend off the political pressure.

Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2014