For once in Pakistan's chequered 61-year history, the army -- which engineered numerous coups -- has taken a neutral political position. Pakistan's 'bonsai democracy' got a boost when Yusuf Gillani became the Prime Minister, and Asif Ali Zardari was sworn in as the President. They are both leaders of the Pakistan People's Party, to which political opposition appears tempered by the realisation that the only alternative is a return to military rule. However, the new government is fraught with myriad challenges like rising food prices, a fledgling economy, and incursions by the U.S. army into Pakistan's restive tribal areas. The key may lie in the kind of political adeptness Zardari has shown by not prosecuting his predecessor, Pervez Musharraf, for the many liberties he took with constitution as the military dictator.