Wrong call

When President Asif Zardari hit upon a roundtable idea, it was met with scathing criticism from the PML(N) hawks: what is that he wants to discuss now ; its just an attempt aimed at scuttling our 10-point reforms agenda. Fast forward to March 7. The PPP had already been thrown out of the Punjab Coalition. The floor-crossers were being pampered as they were the only hope left for the Raiwind Squad to save their fledgling government from collapse.

The chances of the two mainstream parties ever re-establishing a working relationship looked bleak. But all of a sudden Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif called upon Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to convene an All Parties Conference and invite all the stakeholders, including the army and the judiciary, to devise a strategy to steer the country out of the crises it is facing. You cannot blame him for taking a U-turn. Seeking the armys role as a guarantor has been the part of the PML(N)s policy in the past with its leadership advocating the need to assign the military establishment a permanent role in the running of the state.

The only time it shifted its stance for a while was when former Army Chief General Jehangir Karamat was forced to resign by the then Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif for having proposed the idea of setting up a National Security Council. Soon afterwards, the party reverted to its policy of closing its ranks with the GHQ which became more evident when Mian Nawaz appointed General Musharraf as Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff in addition to his being the Army Chief. And this policy of appeasement continued for sometime before the elected government was sent packing. The rest is history.

Then after being placed in exile for 10 years under a deal brokered by the Saudi government, the Sharif brothers seemed to have felt the need for a paradigm shift in their stance. Musharraf bashing became their favourite pastime; nonetheless they cautiously avoided criticising the military intervention in national politics. After being allowed to travel to the United States for medical treatment and during his stay there Mian Shahbaz Sharif was recognised for his strong advocacy of the army being given a permanent role in the system. This reflected a peculiar mindset relying on the support of the establishment for their political survival.

The problem with Mian Shahbaz is that he does not waste time in acting on bad advice but does not seek advice when it is most needed. This, at times, puts his sidekicks in trouble; Ahsan Iqbal and Siddiqul Farooq becoming defensive while replying to questions by journalists on the controversial call for inviting the army and judiciary to the proposed APC being a case in point. Not only were they inconsistent in their arguments but they also contradicted each others points of view. The press conference appeared to be an attempt aimed at countering criticism by political opponents who interpreted the proposal as an open invitation to the powers that be for a direct intervention in the political affairs.

There is no doubt that the country is currently facing serious crises on the economic and security front. Growing terrorism is obviously the biggest challenge that needs to be met head-on rather than extending patronage to those propounding extremist views. Mian Shahbaz often takes offence at the mention of Punjabi Taliban but has not been able to offer any reasoned argument against their presence in the southern parts of the province. His earlier remarks that since the Taliban and his party shared a common stance in opposing the US interference in Pakistan and General Musharrafs capitulation to the foreign powers, he was surprised that these elements are carrying out terror attacks in the Punjab raised more questions than it answered.

Perhaps he became paranoid and thought it wouldnt be unreasonable to directly appeal to the militants to spare the Punjab because its ruling leadership was sympathetic to its views. Maybe a year down the line, he has realised that since his strategy had failed to appease the elements involved in terrorist activities the problem should be tackled through more effective means but he is confused how to go about it. His party rejected Mr Zardaris roundtable proposal because it doesnt want the PPP to get credit for bringing the political leadership to the table to draw up a plan for dealing with the dual menace of terrorism and extremism.

What Mian Shahbaz fails to understand is that by seeking the establishments role as a guarantor, he is only raising doubts about the politicians ability to govern the country on their own. But his move to discredit the political leadership cannot spare him a pointed finger of blame for acting in complicity with the forces having a deep seated aversion towards democracy.

The writer is Executive Editor, Pakistan Today.