Will the Sharifs go for the kill against the PPP government to force PM Gilani to step down in compliance to the SC judgment? This is a question that everyone wants answered, especially the political forces with a stake in this or future political set up.
But even the folks from the PML-N have no definitive answer. Probably even its top leader, Nawaz Sharif, is not sure how far he can go against the government, though he does not seem to be in a hurry despite pressure from his own party and hostile media.
The political analysts say Nawaz could bring the PPP government to its knees within no time if he wanted to or if he was ready to create a constitutional crisis for the PPP government. They believe that anything less than a constitutional crisis would not affect the PPP government.
According to them, Nawaz could trigger a constitutional crisis within no time if he orders his party to come out of the assemblies. But this will be the most difficult thing for the Sharifs to do, as this means sacrificing the Punjab government. But could the PML-N hold its own without its government and that too in the biggest province in election year that is so vital for its political future, which is already threatened by the PTI’s ascendancy in politics.
Without the backing of the Punjab government, it would be harder even for the PML-N to mobilize the masses for the long march it intends to launch against the PPP government in case of its defiance of the SC verdict.
Of course, any desperate or extreme measure at this point when election is around the corner could be harmful for the entire democratic political system, something Nawaz would never like to happen being a democrat himself.
But sources are adamant that this time around, the Sharifs would not spare the PPP government and would try to create conditions witnessed at the time of long march for the restoration of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. They said it would be highly damaging for the PML-N if the party squandered this opportunity to take the PPP head on.
But independent politicians know that the Sharifs have a different take on the issue, quite blunt as well. They believe very strongly that the PML-N would let the PPP go off the hook even this time as it did in the past.
Some parliamentarians claim that the PML-N would let the PPP complete its five years and it would itself do the same in the Punjab instead of taking things to the point of no-return.
Moreover, if past conduct of PML-N is an indicator, it has always cooperated with the government when the latter found itself in dire need of its support.
In recent times the PML-N lent the government a hand in pushing a unanimous resolution through parliament when the government was in great difficulty over fixing its relations with the US. After adopting the resolution, it seemed as if all parties were at the back of the government in determining new rules of engagement with the US.
Meanwhile, experts expect an exchange of firework, playing to the public galleries and point-scoring between the government and opposition. The temperature is already rising a bit, with the PML-N leadership upping the ante against the government and PPP paying it in the same coin for the first time after the split between the two parties.
Nawaz Sharif keeping cards close to chest
