The proverbial has hit the fan for the N League and it has only itself to blame for it. True, the extraordinary political acumen of President Zardari – the stuff doctorates are made of, quips the League’s own Javed Hashmi – also has a role to play. But the fault lies more in the PML(N)’s peculiar line of politics rather than being outfoxed by anyone else.
Since the coup in 1999, the League has sought to reinvent itself; frantically, some might argue. That all resulted in a bit of an identity crisis for a party that had been created largely by the military. Its world view and ideology mirrors the narrative of the military establishment. The only thing that distances it from the mesh of those who take their cue from the garrison is an immovable – and admirable – refusal of its leader Nawaz Sharif to kowtow to the military. But without that all important backing (and all the media help that friends like those guarantee) the League has been reduced to simply latching on to any and all populist causes that they might find. The judiciary, petrol prices, Raymond Davis. You set it up, the N will knock it down. Though that approach might give them a good headline or two, it severely constricts their space for political maneuvering. If politics is the art of the possible, good politicians must, in the throes of desperation, sup with the devil. Many of the PPP’s activists – far keener than their own, the League should note – are anything but happy with this alliance with the Q. But they have been placated by their party leadership, which insists the arrangement is in the ultimate interest of the party.
The powers that be have been playing a dirty game since long. The only way for the political class to hold its own is to rise above petty differences and make sure they take care of the greater menace that looms large over representational democracy as a whole.