The nineties are back
Even in the face of much sabre-rattling by the League, the PPP government has been maintaining a measure of restraint when dealing with the principal opposition party. In fact, it had taken to taking pride in it. There has been no political prisoner in this government’s tenure, the premier has been fond of telling reporters. Far from implicating political prisoners, the government has also not been too caustic or too scathing in its criticism of the Punjab government.
That all is about to change. The first step was the verbiage used. Till about six months ago, a confrontational attitude from the PPP was limited to designated gadflies. It moved on from that to a growing list. And it all culminated in the otherwise calm and composed prime minister himself pulling no punches when it came to the opposition.
Still, no state-enabled political victimisation a la the turbulent 90s. The first chip off the we’re-past-that veneer that the PPP has so carefully maintained was the reopening of the Supreme Court rowdyism case of 1997. The Islamabad police has reopened the case, obviously at the behest of the sitting government.
Should the gloves be considered off? Most definitely. Because the reopening of the rowdyism case isn’t the only salvo. The interior minister is also setting NAB on the Sharifs’ cases.
How are independent observers to view this? Should one urge the two parties, the PPP in this case, to avoid rocking the boat? Or would saying this mean, in effect, not pursuing genuine cases? If there indeed was rowdyism, then nothing could have been more contemptuous of court than that. If there indeed is something odd in the Sharifs’ books, then should those cases be sacrificed at the altar of “reconciliation”?
No, by all accounts. But yes, ironically, by the PPP’s own mantra. Letting bygones be bygones was the whole point of the NRO, or so the party’s spin doctors said.
The ideal case here would be not to interfere too much in the workings of NAB or the Islamabad police at all. Not to be unnecessarily adversarial or to undermine their work by self-styled benevolence. It is not the PPP’s place or mandate to forgive the League on the people’s behalf or the other way around.
Why have not commented on the motives for stopping the Nandipur power Project
PPPZ,MQM,ML-C,ANP ARE UPTO DIRTIES POLITICS.TRYING TO DIVERT PUBLIC ATTENTION FROM THEIR HORRENDOUS FAILURES,CORRUPTION OF 333 BILLION RUPEES,POOR RUINED.TRYING TO DIFFUSE ML-N GENUINE OPPOSITION.IMRAN KHAN IS ALSO PLAYING SECOND FIDDLE TO ZARDARI-ALTAF
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