Unless the top leadership of the PPP and PML(N) take urgent measures to arrest the deterioration in their relations, there is a likelihood of the ongoing war of words turning into a brutal no-holds-barred fight, a situation both sides had vowed never again to return to. Zulfiqar Mirza simply went off his rocker when he declared that an enemy of the PPP was an enemy of Pakistan and threatened to spare no office of the PML(N) from Karachi to Kashmore in case hostilities were initiated against his party. Not to be left behind, Mian Shahbaz Sharif has declared that the fate of the relations between the two parties would be decided a day ahead of the deadline.
While the PML(N) had off and on been calling on the PPP ministers to leave the cabinet, it did not press the issue till the 47-member Unification Bloc was able to gain a separate identity in the Punjab Assembly enabling it to become a part of the PML(N)-led coalition. Till then, Shahbaz depended on the PPP to remain in power. It is unfortunate that he should now be willing to rely on turncoats bringing into question the party leaderships claims that it would never ally with deserters or join hands with those who were once part and parcel of the Musharraf regime. The PPP too has to partly share the blame though. Despite maintaining that it was following a policy of reconciliation, some of its spokespersons have been constantly rubbing the PML(N) the wrong way. One wonders if the vitriolic remarks made by Mirza were without support from powerful quarters in the party.
The offensive remarks by Mirza have apparently been motivated by apprehensions of two types. PPP is worried about internal dissensions and thinks some of the dissenters enjoy discreet PML(N) support. Like Naheed Khan and Safdar Abbasi, Shah Mahmood Qureshi too is indirectly targeting the top PPP leadership. There is also an apprehension that after offloading the PPP ministers, the PML(N) might join hands with other groups who, inspired by events in the Arab world, are now calling for a march on Islamabad. There is a need on the part of the two parties not to forget the lessons they claim they have leant from their struggles in the past. The PPP needs to do more as it already has to implement the 10 points agenda as agreed by it. The PML(N), on its part, has to realise that issues like power outages and inflation need more time for resolution than a few weeks.
