The PML(N)’s desperation to overthrow the PPP government much ahead of the Senate polls scheduled for March 2012 climaxed when its leadership trained its guns at President Zardari while kicking off “Go Zardari Go” campaign across the country on Tuesday.
Mian Nawaz Sharif, who was on a whirlwind visit to the flood-hit areas of Sindh, told a massive gathering in Shahdadpur that the time had come to rid the people of this province of “Daku Raj”. Basking in the past glory of his premiership, he said the Sindhis would have been living a prosperous life had his government not been toppled by a military dictator.
Miles away from there, Ch Nisar spoke widely in opposition to the government’s policies while addressing a public meeting in his hometown. And he was no calmer in his stride when he subjected the present regime to scathing criticism for breaking all the past records of corruption and propounded his view that Zardari and the country could not co-exist.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani tried to counter the campaign launched by the League by declaring that the politicians having the “March Syndrome” were not afraid of the next Senate elections but what they actually feared was the credit the coalition government was going to get by presenting the fifth consecutive budget of its tenure.
There is no denying that the PPP leadership spent the last about four years outmanoeuvring the opposition by its political moves rather than improving the public delivery system. It has miserably failed to address the genuine grievances of the masses badly affected by the power outages, growing unemployment, lawlessness and rising cost of living.
The incumbent rulers cannot afford to ignore the issues of governance anymore. But Mian Nawaz and the hawks in his party would be well-advised to wait for their turn and instead of launching a premature election campaign, they should let the democratically elected regime complete its mandated term in line with the spirit of the Charter of Democracy.