Putting more strength into the adage that 'fire is a good servant but a bad master', Nawaz Sharif, leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) finds himself at the receiving end of a legal system that he has been trying to overthrow.
The decision by a high court on Monday to bar Sharif from running for Parliament in a by-election for the National Assembly later this week is set to exaggerate conflict within a brittle coalition that has been splintered over reinstating the lawyers removed by President Pervez Musharraf.
There is no doubt that of the two leaders who are currently negotiating governmental affairs, Sharif is the more popular and the current ruling by the high court comes by three judges appointed by Musharraf.
This could take Sharif's campaign to impeach the president to greater heights while at the same time putting the onus on Asif Ali Zardari, leader of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), to meet Sharif halfway on his proposal to restore the old judiciary.
The current ruling against Sharif could have further political repercussions in Pakistan. The PML (N) supremo has not appealed against the decision because he is smart enough to recognise that if he did do so, it would show him up as recognising their authority in the first place.
This would negate the very purpose of his efforts to overthrow the judiciary. The affair seems to be heading for an impasse. Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's show of support for Sharif is his party's way of trying to keep the balance in government intact.
That Zardari would like the current judiciary to stay because they could protect an amnesty on corruption charges against him is another matter.
It is a strange case of two allies fragmented in their plans to defeat a common enemy.
