Remove the fourth letter to form a Pakistan Muslim League
In the game of politics, rule number one is; He, who is your enemy today, can be your best friend tomorrow. Perhaps in normal circumstances this rule wouldn’t hold weight, but in the game of politics, even the impossible is possible.
Recent events, point to President Pervez Musharraf and Nawaz Sharif exercising rule number one of politics.
This latest twist in the soap opera titled “Pakistan Elections 2008” was admitted by Shahbaz Sharif in a disguised discrete manner. Yes, in the same disguised discrete manner that Benazir Bhutto once acknowledged secret pillow talks with President Musharraff.
Perhaps a neutral retired Brigadier Niaz has talked some sense to both the PML –Q and PML –N and made them realize that;
• Both parties are a mere shell of what they were in the past
• The only route to power for both parties is to hold hands, give a smile or two and to jointly reign over the parliament of Pakistan.
Let’s face it; there is no political party that has the cohunes to administer the country by itself. The polls reveal that no single party is expected to win a majority in the upcoming elections. In Pakistan, not winning majority is as good as not winning anything at all. This so, as in the dictionary of Pakistan, a minority government is defined as a lame duck administration which is incapable of making bold decisions and policies due to being handcuffed by other political parties.
The doomsday scenario for Pakistan is a close election where all three major political parties (PML –Q, PML –N. PPP) win around the same number of seats. Such a result will produce a lame duck administration and more importantly will not change the current destabilized political landscape of Pakistan.
It does not take a genius to realize that the recipe to solve the majority of Pakistan’s problems is a strong unified government capable of making bold decisions. Ground realities dictate that this is only possible by two of the three major political parties forming some sort of binding coalition.
The obvious questions now are, which two political parties will realize this first, and which two parties will be willing to put aside their ego’s for the betterment of Pakistan.
Recent indications are pointing towards the PML-Q and the PML-N realizing this and directing their efforts towards some sort of reconciliatory deal.
Skeptics will point that such an agreement is not probable but actually impossible. But again, these skeptics would have never imagined Nawaz Sharif and Altaf Hussein weeping over Benazir Bhutto’s death. Rule number one of Pakistan…Anything is possible.
Obviously, the journey towards reconciliation won’t be smooth sailing, but both the PMLs are fighting for self preservation and for a strong footing in the political landscape of Pakistan. With their backs to the wall it is more likely that they will be more accommodating to a few mutual sacrifices to bring a coalition into existence.
If self preservation was not a good enough reason to reconcile, pressure by the real friends of Pakistan (Arab Governments) to do so most certainly is.
President Musharraf and Nawaz Sharif have repeatedly stated that they will not allow their personal egos to come in-between the development and the stability of Pakistan. Perhaps the future happenings will reveal whether they were lying or being honest.