A legal, and now political drama...

A legal, and now political drama...

It had all the makings of a great TV show: A president under a cloud, a supreme court with a historic judgment to make and a nation in waiting.

To add to the drama a decision was made by the court to tell the world at 4.30pm local time [11.30GMT] their verdict. It was a tense wait as the deadline passed.

In the hours that we waited for the judgement, speculation was high. The rumours where that the supreme court's 17 judges were divided between hawks and doves. That the decision was painful because others wanted to find a middle way.

Finally, a little before 11pm, it arrived. A scriptwriter could not written a better ending. Once the judgement came, speculation turned to jubilation for some, shock for others - null and void.

The verdict could not have been more stark. The amnesty deal, that allowed thousands of people a free pass on corruption and criminal charges in Pakistan was removed. The deal was struck between Benazir Bhutto and Pervez Musharraff to help unify the country with a forgive and forget policy.

It seems the supreme court doesn't think forgiving and forgetting is legally permissible.

Over breakfast this morning each table in my hotel buzzed with the news. The headlines in papers declared it a historic day.

But what happens next?

Well, If the events at the supreme court had the making of a legal drama, now the story moves to on to the political stage.

The president does not need to step down, he is protected from prosecution as long as he remains in office. But there are a number of things that could change the situation dramatically.

Asif Ali Zardari is under fire from his critics. They say he must resign. As long as there are pending corruption cases against him he has no moral authority under which to lead the country. They want him to do the right thing and resign.

Other's go further. They want his eligibility for President to be tried in a court of law. The argument goes that if the law that allowed you to seek political office is now null and void, so is your presidency.

There is no doubt that this historic ruling will cause a political crisis but we just don't know what shape that crisis will take. This will be a slow burn. We fully expect to see anti-Zardari protests, newspaper columnists demanding his resignation. But will the anti-Zardari movement reach critical mass and be able to force him out?

It's a tough question to answer. Zardari has always maintained the charges against him were politically motivated. He has spent 11 years in jail already. His supporters could claim he has served his time and that the charges should be dropped.

Like I said, the story here will continue ... But it won't be like US TV drama "Law and Order", where complex issues are solved in half and hour. This one will run and run. In fact, it's probably more like "The West Wing". Dense, complicated and told over 7 seasons.