The PML(N) has embarked on a dangerous course. It has joined hands with turncoats and charlatans in order to show the door to the PPP, its erstwhile coalition partner in the Punjab. By giving ministries to the unification group (an oxymoron in this case), Mian Nawaz Sharif can no longer claim the moral high ground. In this sense he is no better than Musharraf and his cohorts who carved PML(Q) from the PML(N) when the chips were down for the Sharifs and the Patriots, a breakaway group from the PPP.
Mian Sahib for long has resisted calls from his partys hardliners spearheaded by his brother Shahbaz Sharif to say goodbye to the PPP for long. Ironically, now dependant on turncoats and facing a recalcitrant opposition in the provincial assembly, he has the most to lose in such a scenario.
Normally parties part with coalition on matters of principle or to deprive the ruling party of its majority. In this case, the PML(N) has reinvented the wheel. As the ruling party in the Punjab, it has had the PPP, headed by senior minister Raja Riaz, as the most pliant and benign coalition partner. Even going by the adage keep your friends close and your enemies closer, it was a good strategy to have the PPP Punjab as a coalition partner rather than in the opposition.
However it seems that the PML(N) is now of the view that as a result of its dismal performance, the ruling PPP coalition at the Centre will be fair game in the next general elections. Hence it wants to outgrow the label of being the friendly opposition appended to it both by its own party hawks and its critics. A manifestation of this was witnessed the other day when Mian Shahbaz Sharif passionately implored his brother in front of top businessmen of the country to abandon the policy of cooperating with the PPP.
The PML(N) supremo felt that the PPP has been dragging its feet on its ten-point reform agenda. He felt that Mr Zardari has inflicted many an injury on the PML(N). He has failed to specify what the nature of these real or perceived injuries is. Claiming that since the PPP-led government has neither the will nor the inclination to reform, he thought it was the time to say goodbye in the national interest, come what may.
Prime Minister Gilani felt otherwise. Privately, he was quite bemused by the politics of deadlines and wanted more time. Asserting that the size of the cabinet has been drastically reduced, he claims that most of the ten points are being implemented. In order to save the day, he has also sought proposals from coalition partners on the appointment of the chief election commissioner, the accountability law and recovery of loans written off by the previous government.
The PML(N) is unhappy about the inclusion of some corrupt ministers in the reshuffled cabinet. Incidentally the same ministers, notwithstanding their acts of commission or omission, happen to be Mr. Zardaris favourites. In any case, the PML(N) in the opposition cannot legitimately claim the right to cherry pick members of the federal cabinet.
Why did the PML(N) show such undue haste? If it is preparing for elections, it should be concentrating on providing good governance in the Punjab and turning it into a model of growth, prosperity and development to be emulated by other provinces. Ground realities in the province are quite different.
Sindhs Home Minister Zulfiqar Mirza, thanks to his not-too-infrequent fulminations, has earned the dubious distinction of being dubbed as the double of Rana Sanaullah in the province. His recent diatribe against the PML(N) should be taken seriously not for its content but for its substance.
There is hardly any presence of the PML in Sindh. Octogenarian Sindhi leaders like Ghous Ali Shah are no threat to the PPP or for that matter to the MQM. But the PPP playing the Sindh card could be really damaging for the federation. Hopefully, Mr Mirzas mentors will rein in the wily doctor.
The PML(N) is virtually non-existent in Sindh and has hardly any presence in Balochistan. Moreover, Mian Sahibs fudging over the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa issue and his half-hearted support for a Hazara province has not won any kudos in KP.
It is imperative, therefore, that the PML leaderships first priority should be to organise in all the provinces of the country rather than merely pontificating from the safe, serene and palatial confines of Raiwind. Its dismal performance in the last few by-elections in its bastion, the Central Punjab, should serve as an eye opener.
Merely blaming its association with the PPP in Punjab for poor performance will be a flawed strategy. Judging by the results of the last elections, the South of Punjab is also a mixed bag for the PML(N). Neither can the alienation of Shah Mehmood Qureshi provide any solace to the PML(N). He has no place in the party.
It should be also analysing the reasons why its stalwarts, like Javed Hashmi who weathered rigorous imprisonment for his outspokenness against Musharraf while the Sharifs were in exile, have been sidelined. Demands for a Seraiki and Bahawalpur province will also cut into the PML(N) vote-bank.
The PML(N) getting an absolute majority in the next general elections, if and when held, is highly unlikely. Hence any future dispensation as a result of elections will be another coalition even if headed by the PML(N). Hence Mian Nawaz Sharif should raise the ante only to such acceptable levels where he could co-opt other provinces and parties.
He should educate his party men that the role of the opposition in a parliamentary system is not playing a zero-sum game. Most of the criticism leveled by the opposition on the PPP-led coalition is not misplaced. And Mian Sahib has very cogent reasons for being disillusioned with Mr Zardari. However it has to be conceded that despite all the warts, this is a democracy.
Hence caution should not be thrown to winds in pursuit of the elusive goal of ousting the present government. The exit of the PPP from the Punjab government does not affect the PPP coalition in the parliament unless the MQM withdraws its support.
Suddenly Moonis Elahi, who was till recently running from the law owing to his alleged involvement in the NICL scam, has come out squeaky clean. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) no longer wants him. After meeting Dr Zulfiqar Mirza he has pledged to fight the PML(N) together. Such are the vagaries of politics.
The writer is Editor, Pakistan Today.
