Rising danger of ‘political miscarriage’

Calls for the resignation of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Interior Minister Rehman Malik- which arose from the treasury benches in the National Assembly on Tuesday- established the fact that distrust between the government and parliament was increasing and patience on both sides of the divide was wearing thin. In addition, in-house statements and off-the-record remarks outside the Parliament House alluded to both sides’ growing disappointment, suggesting that reconciliation was no longer PPP’s prime political stratagem.
Hitherto, it had only been the opposition which had been expressing disappointment and calling for in-house change, but this time it was PPP’s Quetta MNA, Nasir Ali Shah, who asked for the resignation of the prime minister in light of the PM’s failure to resolve the energy crisis, control lawlessness in the country and, above all, for his son’s alleged involvement in corruption. Awami National Party Advocate MNA Pervaiz Khan also called for the resignation of Interior Minister Rehman Malik, terming him the most incompetent person.
Referring to the statements of members from the treasury benches, PML-N MNA Ayaz Amir warned the National Assembly on the same day that PPP’s style of governance was engendering disenchantment and disappointment amongst the people. But the reality is that parliamentarians; both from the opposition and the treasury benches, are becoming more disappointed with PPP’s governance than the common people.
The current disappointment and frustration of parliamentarians is rooted in the post-Benazir politics of the PPP, which included the tragic end of PPP’s nascent romance with the PML-N, which had been budding after the joint signing of the charter of democracy, and the separation with the JUI-F, which exposed that reconciliation was being used more as a stratagem in matters of political expediency rather than to bring about political stability in the country. The current turbulent relationship between the MQM and the PPP is of an ambivalent nature and the partnership seems to be based more on political convenience than on preserving national interests.
A few days ago, one of the ANP senators told Pakistan Today that his party was also getting fed-up with the current political process, and the “man perched atop” needed to realise the difference between “regime” and “democratic governance”, otherwise disappointment and disenchantment could lead to a “political miscarriage” in the country.