The realisation on the part of the PPP and PML(N) leadership that it was necessary to avoid derailing the system has led them to put an end to the ongoing confrontation in the Punjab Assembly. A telephonic address by Zardari to the PPP Punjab legislators has brought them to heel. After an hour of the usual noisy protest, the PPP agreed to let the house work smoothly while the PML(Q) members quietly left the house. The PPP legislators were told prior to Zardaris address that the party boss would take no questions for now. In other words, it was a directive from the party high command to let the provincial assembly proceedings continue in peace. The PPP provincial leadership had earlier vowed to carry on the protests till the two demands put up by it were accepted. First, the development funds for the constituencies of the opposition leaders should be released to them which had been withheld at the directive of the CM. Second, the PML(Q) turncoats be not included in the provincial cabinet, promising in return to support the government from the outside. The demands are likely to be accepted quietly. The crisis in the Punjab Assembly was in fact the product of an unreasonable decision by the PML(N) leadership to break ties with the PPP and show the door to its ministers, thus bringing an end to an arrangement that had ensured the smooth running of the administration in Punjab. The PML(N) had failed to realise that, notwithstanding their mutual differences, the federal and Punjab governments had to work together to keep the system stable. For this, both needed to rein in the irresponsible hawks in their ranks.
It was unrealistic on the part of the PML(Q) legislators in the Punjab Assembly to hope that the PPP would continue to boycott the proceedings for long. This would have amounted to a childish pursuit as in view of the numbers game, there was no way the PPP and the PML(Q) led by Zaheeruddin could have brought down the PML(N) government.
The PPP and PML(N) can take vital decisions useful for bringing the economy back on the rails and to stabilize the system by returning to the negotiating table that the PML(N) abruptly left at the end of the last month despite realising that the talks had led to useful and tangible results. The parties can still work out joint economic policies and take decisions on international relations that would be followed by whichever comes to power after the next elections. What is more, they can also agree on measures needed to strengthen democracy and its institutions.