Bad times can be pretty adhesive in nature. Wars, most famously, are said to bring nations together, temporarily cementing the cracks, brushing over the perpetual faultlines. Other calamities, like economic meltdown, for instance, can be pretty divisive, with the opposition parties milking all of the abundant opportunities for scoring points. This usually yields a government unable to enforce unpopular yet necessary steps to help rectify the economy. In evolved democracies, however, the senior leadership of political parties recognize the point where cheap populism is criminally irresponsible. When the proverbial is about to hit the fan. Financially, the government has a similar situation on its hands. But the consistent truncation of democratic tenures in our unfortunate republic has, by extension, truncated the aforementioned evolution.
The PML(N)s willingness to work on an agenda of an economic turn-around, thus, is a sign of the partys evolution towards maturity. In fact, amongst the signs of the Leagues eye on the bigger picture, its recognition of the tight spot the government is in is of almost equal significance as its insistence on not being a part of any attempt to destabilize the democratic system. This bridging of ties is amongst the few instances of good news in the country.
Avoiding a reliance on cheap populism has its merits for parties that have a shot at leading the national or provincial governments (the PPP, PML(N) and the ANP) and not so much for those without such a chance (all of the rest, really). One hopes that the decision to take back the subsidies on petroleum products and electricity tariffs, both of which will cause resentment amongst the public, does not inspire the same populist backlash from the political parties as the last petroleum price hikes did. Continuing to pay the subsidies would yield a widening fiscal deficit as high as 6 percent of the GDP, as the finance minister informed the delegations of the PML(N), ANP and MQM the other day. Such a large deficit might even trigger hyper-inflation. Coughing up a little more for the bus conductor will seem like a trifle were that to happen.
