In election mode

No one’s pulling any punches

Suddenly, President Zardari has switched to election mode. Preferring to remain above the fray, he had been ignoring the not-too-infrequent vitriolic and personal attacks of his opponents. After making the ritualistic political speech at Naudero on the death anniversary of the PPP’s Founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, President Zardari has gone after the Sharifs not sounding very presidential anymore.

The younger Sharif who also happens to be the chief minister of the largest province has never held his punches saying he does not even recognise Zardari as the president of Pakistan. Calling him corrupt and inept, Shahbaz Sharif has even gone to the extent of saying that Zardari would one day be dragged in the streets of Lahore and Larkana.

Even the elder Sharif has never spared Zardari and his cohorts. But he has always kept his criticism within the limits of decency, pointedly desisting from using vitriolic language against the president. He recently counselled his brother to desist from using harsh language against the president as such scathing criticism did not sit well with their constituents.

And now sitting right in the citadel of the PML(N), President Zardari, making no distinction between the two brothers, has boasted that he has given the Sharifs their shine and can take it back any time. It is apparent that everyone is now going into election mode and the gloves are off.

The jewel in the crown is Punjab. Whoever takes a majority of National Assembly seats in the province in the forthcoming general elections – with or without allies depending on the results – will form the next government.

Contesting the elections alongside PPP’s erstwhile nemesis but now favourite ally the PML(Q), Zardari has claimed that he will form the next government in Punjab. Ground realities, however, militate against such optimistic projections.

Punjab was once the mainstay of the PPP. No longer so. The party has consistently ignored the province. With its leadership antiquated and decimated, and organizational structure weakened, the PPP has ostensibly decided to hitch its wagon with the PML(Q).

A quisling party created by former dictator Musharraf from defections engineered mainly from PML(N), the PML(Q) is presently in disarray. The Chaudhrys of Gujrat and a few others are now its mainstay. After defections in the form of the so-called Likeminded group, the Unification bloc in Punjab and the recent high profile desertions to the PTI and the PML(N), nothing much will remain of the erstwhile King’s party, come election time.

Hence for the PPP to merely base its future projections in the province on the basis of seat adjustments with the PML(Q) will be a folly. Despite Shahbaz Sharif deluding himself that Imran’s tsunami is over, Punjab is going to be a three-way contest in the next elections.

Imran Khan will be able to field candidates, some of them winnable bets, in most constituencies of Punjab. On paper, it sounds good that the PML(N) and the PTI will cancel each other in a hot contest in the province and the PPP will be the ultimate gainer. But, ground realities are different.

All is not well with the PML(N) in Punjab. Wasteful schemes like the sasti roti, yellow cab, Daanish schools and Ashyana Housing have been a big strain on the provincial exchequer, pushing Punjab into a deficit. Indiscriminate distribution of laptop computers at heavy state expense also betrays a sense of insecurity on the part of the Sharifs and an anxiety to woo the potential young voters of the PTI.

Having said that, it is still not easy to dislodge the Sharifs in Punjab where they have ruled five times in the past 25 years. Lahore remains their bastion. Imran might make a few inroads in the city but to imagine that the PPP is going to sweep in the provincial metropolis is nothing more than wishful thinking.

President Zardari coming to Lahore after a long gap specifically to look after the affairs of the party is a welcome move. Better late than never. But he will have to pay a few more visits to the provincial capital for the party to get its act together.

Presently, the PPP is virtually leaderless in the province. Its present high command is no match for the Sharifs well-oiled political machine. The party not in power in the province has very little political patronage to dole out. Furthermore, it will have to defend its not-too-enviable governance record against a two-pronged attack from the PML(N) and the PTI.

Relying merely on the PML(Q) for winnable candidates in the province will be a folly. Come election time, there might not be many left in the Q fold. If one goes by some recent opinion polls, they do not make good reading for the PPP or for the PML(N). All of them show Imran Khan catching up with the rest. But the major loser of support in these polls is the PPP.

In order to eke out a workable majority in the next elections, Zardari and Gilani will have to work doubly hard. There is not much time left to squander. Both of them are politically savvy and know the ropes well.

The PPP’s record on political reforms, building democratic institutions and reaching out to their opponents is second to none. It is no mean feat that a political government has survived to hold elections on its own watch. The first to do since Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s government called elections itself in 1977.

In this context, the remarks of the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali about Bilawal Bhutto in the joint sitting of the parliament were in poor taste and uncalled for. Why attack Bilawal when progenies of the Sharifs and other politicians are actively taking part in politics?

PML(N)’s advice to the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) linking the restoration of NATO supplies with the release of Pakistani scientist Dr Aafia Siddiqui is also tantamount to a hardening of positions. Knowing well that this is not going to happen, it is merely playing to the galleries.

Even though everyone has switched to election mode, they must avoid this kind of posturing. Vital national interests should not be sacrificed at the altar of electioneering. This will amount to throwing the baby out with the bath water.

The writer is Editor, Pakistan Today