The PPP and PML(N) are gradually realising the need for sobriety while making comments about each other. This was evident from Law Minister Babar Awans press briefing as well as from the address delivered by Mian Nawaz Sharif at a rally in Muzaffarabad. While PPPs central executive committee has strictly restrained its members from offering provocations to other parties, the PML(N) chief deflected the criticism that he had turned the party into a friendly opposition not by indulging in anti-PPP rhetoric but by simply maintaining that he was pro-Pakistan rather than pro-Zardari. That the restraint may not be exercised in the case of smaller parties was evident from the barrage of criticism against the MQM in Mian Nawazs speech and in that of Sindh Home Minister Zulfiqar Mirzas who continued to lambast the MQM on Sunday also.
The two major parties are obviously keen to fully concentrate on elections. It is presumably being realised by both that the Local Bodies elections, due next year, could turn out to be a decisive moment in their fortunes. The PPP would have completed three out of five years of its term by March next year. It is, therefore, making 2011 a year of re-organisation aimed at activating the otherwise dormant party units and office bearers. The much desired reduction in the size of the cabinet has been postponed till sometime next year. The reshuffling of the cabinet has presumably been tied to the individual ministers performance in the Local Bodies elections. While it may not be a commendable policy to tie up the pruning of an extra large cabinet with political exigencies of the type, this is bound to give the ministers a run for their money.
The two mainstream parties who have high stakes in the system seem to have sensed that provocateurs want to keep the pot boiling for ulterior motives. They have presumably decided not to succumb to incitements from their side. The forthcoming Local Bodies elections would provide an occasion to test the mettle of the parties. It remains to be seen if they can keep their cool as political temperature rises with the arrival of the said elections.