Bad for them, bad for the federation
The PPP is now desperately trying to strike roots in Punjab while the PML-N is pursuing the same goal in Sindh. The leaders of the two parties have belatedly undertaken a task that they had chosen to neglect after 2013, each for his own peculiar reasons.
The PML-N was content to consolidate itself in Punjab reveling in the fact that the province enjoyed a permanent and unalterable electoral majority in the federation and was thus the key to the rule over Pakistan. So why waste time and resources in other provinces? The leadership failed to realise that it was tantamount to changing the PML-N into a Punjabi party which was harmful for the federation. For over three years Nawaz Sharif visited about twenty countries. In the UK he lived a number of days on several occasions. He had, however, little time for Sindh. The attitude alienated a number of prominent Sindhi politicians who had recently joined the PML-N and they parted ways with the party.
The PPP’s Punjab chapter pressed upon the leadership the need to spend time in Punjab where the party was highly demoralised after the loss of 2013 polls due to PPP government’s abysmal performance. Snubbing those who wanted PPP to play the role of an active opposition Zardari, in his self-proclaimed superior political wisdom announced a policy of reconciliation with Nawaz Sharif. He even assured the new Prime Minister that “we will start politics when the next election is announced”. In 2005 Zardari launched an uncalled for frontal attack on the army which forced him to go into self-imposed exile. Even after his return, Zardari continued to neglect Punjab. With MQM controlling the urban centers, PPP was thus turned into a party of the rural Sindh.
There is little that the PML-N and PPP can do now to improve their standing in the provinces they neglected for nearly four years. The slogan “Zardari, sab say yari” can help only when PPP is in power. In the present situation, it is simply out of tune.
