President Zardari presumably had in mind the fiery speeches delivered by the opposition in NA amidst slogans of “Go Zardari, go’ when he categorised his opponents as agents of instability who were not going to succeed. Referring to the opposition lawmakers’ sit-in outside the presidency, he told them that the agitational activity of the sort cannot cause the government to fall. One agrees with the president that the country needs stability to improve its economy and ensure its security. Any move to cut short the tenure allotted to a government by the constitution has to be avoided. This is useful for the opposition too for a government having ruled for full five years is left with no excuse for its failures. Elections are going to be held in less than a year and half. The opposition needs to act responsibly during the interim period.
Conversely, the government has to realise that the opposition cannot be deterred from its duty to expose the administration’s failures. The opposition is within its right to criticise the government both inside and outside the parliament. There is no need to overreact to the criticism against the president either; all the more so when he holds the highest PPP office and presides over crucial meetings to resolve the disputes within the coalition. He cannot, thus, be considered a totally neutral personality. The government needs to do a lot of homework after the detailed judgment of the SC on lawlessness in Karachi. It has to undertake a lot of discussion with allies to implement the directives of the apex court. In the meanwhile, one expects from the opposition that it would avoid recourse to extra-constitutional means to change the government when the courts are independent, the media is free and there are no restrictions on political activities. The opposition in fact has yet to develop the capacity to make the maximum use of the forums available to it to expose the government’s failures.
While the tussle goes on between the government and the opposition there is a need on their part to hold talks, as suggested by President Zardari. The two sides have to devise rules of game for the period till elections. Prime Minister Gilani needs to take an initiative in this regard.
