When consensus is the key
At a time when the country faces a number of serious challenges the best way for the government would be to move ahead through consensus rather than reliance on its parliamentary majority alone. The PML-N leadership had rightly admitted earlier that the situation was so grave and the issues so complex that no single party could resolve them. Taking the opposition along requires building bridges and to avoid indulging in the sort of activity that creates a perception of settling old scores or witch hunting. A return to the type of acrimony and vengefulness that characterized the 1990s is just inadmissible.
To restore the much-needed peace in Karachi the PML-N led federal government has to work together with the PPP administration in Sindh. This needs a modicum of understanding between the two parties. Soon after the elections, statements by leaders from both sides led some to think that that an attempt was on to create trust between the traditional rivals. But what one sees taking place now contradicts the perception. One of the issues the government is dealing with is that of prosecuting Musharraf under Article 6. This is the first time that a former military ruler is being required to receive his comeuppance. Till a few days back the government’s move was fully supported by the PPP. The speeches delivered in the National Assembly on Thursday however indicated that the understanding had broken down. The PPP smelled foul play after reports appeared in media regarding the federal administration approaching the Swiss government to reopen cases that have been declared time-barred against President Asif Zardari. With Ch. Nisar and Ahsan Iqbal insisting that the NRO did not envisage dropping of cases that the parties had registered against one another, the suspicions were strengthened. The stand taken by Ch. Nisar that the move to reopen the Swisss cases had come from the Supreme Court rather than the government left Khurshed Shah and Amin Fahim unconvinced. The PPP has now predicated support for Musharraf’s trial for 2007 emergency on other factors not mentioned before.
Soon the national security policy, another highly crucial issue for the country, is going to be presented before the parliament. Ch. Nisar has promised a comprehensive proactive policy to check militancy in the country. There is no doubt that the government can get through the bill prepared on the basis of its majority. That however would compromise its effectiveness. What is needed is a security policy that has the support of all major parties, thus reflecting a national consensus. Consensus is all the more necessary because the PLML-N controls the center in the main on the basis of support from one province only. A policy that does not have the support of parties ruling other provinces would have lesser political and moral support.
