Into the streets, prematurely
While it may be an unusual thing for the opposition in a mature democracy to take its protests to the streets, it is not so in Pakistan. Despite the date for the elections yet to be announced, opposition parties have initiated public campaigns to target what they consider to be the weak spots of the government as well as those of their other rivals. As things stand it is a tripartite fight between the government, PML(N) and PTI. What has further driven the PML(N) prematurely to the streets are the hawks within the party who have yet to outgrow the 90’s style of politics. The competition with the PTI in Punjab where it is presenting itself as the real opposition party is the other factor. The PML(N) has during the last few days held protest rallies at Taxila, Gujranwala, Peshawar and outside Karachi Press Club. “Go, Gilani go” was the main slogan at these events. Imran Khan organised a sizeable “walk” in Islamabad in support of the judiciary where he also addressed the participants. The PTI has also announced the holding of a public meeting at Liaquat Bagh later this month.
Extreme care needs to be taken by those organising the rallies so that things do not go out of control. The call by Nawaz Sharif to party workers at Taxila to prepare for the long march has led to the PPP to announce a counter rally of a million workers against Takht Lahore on the Punjab-Sindh border.
The demand for Gilani’s resignation at this stage is premature. Whatever the moral implications of the Supreme Court’s short order, Gilani still remains the legal PM. The opposition should wait not only for the final verdict in the contempt case but also for the outcome of Gilani’s appeal in case of a negative verdict. The opposition’s call for early elections could turn out to be counterproductive as both the PML(N) and PTI have yet to do a lot of homework. The claims of Nawaz and Imran of being national leaders would be questioned if they fail to put up respectable performance in smaller provinces. They need to employ the time available to them to publicise their manifestos and improve their election machinery.