Unforgiving are the throes of desperation in democracy, especially one as imperfect as ours. The motley crew that the ruling People’s Party has surrounded itself with to strengthen its parliamentary profile won’t strike anyone as poster boys for democracy. PML(Q) leader Amir Muqaam’s recent resignation from the federal cabinet, to which he was only recently inducted, will be the first of many. True, though this particular case might have had the pressures of constituency realpolitik at play, the future weaning away of these members would be through the powers that be, not any local rivalries.
Other than the ANP, which also happens to be the only steadfast ally of the PPP, the democratic credentials of the other coalition partners leave much to be desired. The MQM, which is currently conducting what it insists on calling a referendum, doesn’t pull any punches when it espouses its philosophy; its leader has expressed his desire for a martial law style government a number of times. The PML(Q) may be more suave in how they choose their words, but their predilections are also not lost out on anyone. No points for guessing where both of these parties will be when the going gets tough.
It didn’t have to be this way. There are more natural allies around. Just the way the PPP buried the hatchet with the NAP, there is a need to step out of the frame and reach out to the PML(N) as well. The League might be on the other side of the political spectrum, granted, but its recent track record for calling it like it sees it as far as the military is concerned has been better than the government’s. To be fair, it is not as if the PPP didn’t try. In the art of the possible, perhaps the League also needs to be open to some compromises; an acceptance of the fact that they won’t always get their way. An unshakable belief in representative democracy is as good a bare minimum common agenda as could be. It is about time.
