…in a tough environment
It’s a tightrope walk in the middle of a blizzard. In the deliberations on how to proceed with relations with the US, the government faces an almost impossible task. First, there is the parliament itself, with the principal opposition party, which had reportedly reached a private consensus of sorts earlier with the treasury benches, making an about turn on the issue. In fact, the League even made common cause with the Taliban on the issue of the Nato supply lines. This, in addition to the expected line of the right-wing JUI(F) on the issue. All this, of course, is taking place in the usual atmosphere of the cat-herding that running a coalition government is, with the ANP and the MQM getting up in arms again.
Outside the house, the Difa-e-Pakistan Council, with its usual chanting of slogans against any possible resumption of the Nato supply routes. It would be a little difficult to carry on in that ruckus, especially given the threats by some of the members of the DPC to try to physically stop said resumption. Matters are further complicated by threats of militant organisations to target legislators in case the parliament does approve the resumption of the supply routes.
With so many things going against it, why doesn’t the government simply not resume the routes? For starters, there is the financial aspect. The government makes money off the transit routes and that, presumably, helps in these lean times. Secondly, there is the larger issue of relations with the US. They certainly have their own set of complaints. And, given how we had egg on our face in the aftermath of Osama Bin Laden’s presence in Abbottabad, we cannot really afford to be churlish for lack of a moral higher ground. Third, though the foreign minister says an apology for the Salala incident won’t be enough, there is very little to say what would be. More aid?
Fourthly, and this is a larger issue than our relations with the US, is the matter of principle. The political government has entrusted, out of a need to build a consensus, the issue of the supply routes to the parliament. It is only the parliament, then, that should decide, based on how the body weighs the pros and cons. Not because the parliament is being held siege to, so to speak, by several interest groups.
