The inevitable has happened. Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharifs last minute meeting with Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani failed to avert the crisis as the PML(N) finally announced splitting with the PPP in the Punjab because of the federal governments reluctance to implement its 10-point reforms agenda. The decision coincided with the expiry of the 45-day deadline set by the PML (N).
The PPP might have been slow on the uptake but there had been some progress as far as executing the reforms agenda was concerned, which indicated the governments willingness to address the rest of the issues in due course. The fact that the PPP leadership had conceded ground and implemented some important provisions of the 18th Amendment much before they were to become operational after the next general elections should have been satisfying for the PML(N), leaving little justification for Mian Nawaz Sharif and his party to continue treading the path of confrontation.
Prime Minister Gilanis recent observation that the process of consultation and dialogue should not be held hostage to the timeframe came as a polite snub to the PML(N) leaderships repeated warnings that it would not give further time to the government for the implementation of its reforms agenda after the expiry of the 45-day deadline. Mian Nawaz had already hinted at snapping negotiations with the government and jettisoning the PPP ministers from the Punjab cabinet, but the perception that it signaled his decision to press for early elections appears to be farfetched.
There is no doubt that the PPPs rule spanning nearly three years remains mired in corruption but then given the peoples experience of bad governance in Punjab during the corresponding period, the PML(N) shouldnt be over-optimistic about sweeping the mid-term polls if they ever take place. Its leadership will have to do a lot of explaining about billions of rupees wasted on the sasti roti scheme which failed to bring down the number of the poor going to bed hungry or stop their poorer fellows from committing suicides just because they had no money to feed their families.
Notwithstanding the Punjab CMs brinkmanship and impaired political vision, Mian Nawaz was supposed to be looking at a larger picture where reconciliation was needed for not only improving the governance but also for meeting more serious challenges facing the country. He was believed to understand that hed have to be cautious not to take the situation to a stage where the democratic process could be derailed. But he acquiesced to the kid brothers advice to jettison the PPP ministers from the Punjab Cabinet to fend off criticism for maintaining double standards; playing the role of opposition in the Centre while collaborating with the PPP in the province.
After it had decided to part ways with the PPP, the PML(N) was left with no other option than embracing turncoats to keep its government afloat. But what Mian Nawaz failed to comprehend or deliberately ignored was that the decision would be seen as a climb-down from the moral high ground he had attained for doing politics of principles ever since his return from exile. The patronage being extended to the breakaway faction of the Q-League would not only be the violation of the Charter of Democracy the leaders of the two mainstream parties had signed while in exile but will also be an attempt at promoting horse-trading. This will be a throwback to the dirty politics of the 1990s.
The PML (N) leadership needs to keep in mind that Ata Maneka and others of his ilk who have now offered themselves on sale believe in remaining loyal to their leadership as long as it is in power. Start recalling their somersaults and you are bound to lose count. Many of them were those who wasted no time in pledging their allegiance to the Chaudhrys of Gujrat the day the Sharif Family had left for Jeddah. If the aim is to punish the Chaudhrys for siding with Musharraf, then this bunch of turncoats need no different treatment for having served the same despot.
Mian Nawaz and the hawks in his flanks need to understand that current phase of political instability in the country at a time when it is facing threats to its sovereignty is not without their contribution. The PML(N) can rightly claim credit for bringing the lawyers movement to a logical end and paving the way for the independence of judiciary. But that wasnt all that was expected of it. It had much more to do to strengthen democracy and keep those forces at bay which got used to hold the nation over the barrel. It should think about furthering the process of political reconciliation lest the people launch a decisive long march against the political leadership which they can justly blame for having returned home to rob them, once again.
The writer is Executive Editor, Pakistan Today.
