So how come NS is busy collecting lotas these days when he promised he’d never do that ever again. Whatever happened to no horsetrading, doing undemocratic stuff? Btw, wasn’t he the one who passed law making it illegal for MPs to switch parties?
http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\03\16\story_16-3-2011_pg7_17
Mid-term polls: a far cry for PML-N
By Muhammad Akram
LAHORE: With no let-up to the daily shame being brought on it after embracing the lotas (Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) turncoats) in the Punjab Assembly, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is finding it extremely difficult to mould the political tide conducive for holding of mid-term elections in the country, a PML-N Central Working Committee member from Lahore told Daily Times on Tuesday.
The source, seeking anonymity, said the situation emanating from the Punjab Assembly proceedings had produced nothing concrete for the party on the agenda of nearing mid-term election, but the blame that the party has compromised its “principled” stance on the question of turncoats.
“The party MPAs, including members of the Punjab cabinet who had already been feeling marginalised for having little say on the working of the provincial government since Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif wants to shadow every policy decision, has failed to devise any policy to counter the PPP-PML-Q combine onslaught on the issue of turncoats”, the source said.
A PML-N MNA from Lahore said the party policy makers were getting convinced of the fact that the political strategy ‘disturb Punjab politically by provoking the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) after throwing its ministers out of the cabinet’ has not fetched desired results. Similarly, the MNA, on the condition of anonymity, said the plan has also not worked since the PML-Q had slowed down the process of seeking disqualification of its dissidents and has taken the matter to the courts. The MNA said that under the given political situation the party is left with the only option of disturbing the proceedings in the National Assembly where it has considerable disciplined strength.
The MNA, who is stated to be amongst those few voices who opposed the idea of breaking ties with the PPP on the question of non-implementation of the 10-point agenda, said the failure of ‘get PPP-led government down policy under the garb of mid-term elections’ does not seem to be working as was anticipated by a handful of CWC members. Neither does it appear prudent at a time when its getting approval in Islamabad in the last week of February, the MNA said.
The MNA revealed that it had been pointed out during the last meeting of the party’s CWC that pushing PML-Q closer to the PPP by embracing its dissidents to the extent of sustaining government in Punjab would be disastrous. He argued “politically speaking the PPP coalition government in the centre with the help of silent support from PML-Q is far more stable than the party government in Punjab”. He maintained that the PPP and its allies, including the PML-Q, had acted more wisely in dashing PML-N hopes that the vicious circle of the change in the guard would be helped-start from Punjab by putting the blame on the PPP and the PML-Q. The PML-N policy makers said the MNA failed to understand what the PPP and the PML-Q doing right now “embarrass the PML-N for promoting ‘lotacracy’ rather and let the situation perpetuate by delaying legal actions against the turncoats”.
Sources in the PPP confirmed that the top party leadership has asked the PML-Q leadership to delay as long as possible legal action against its turncoats after reading the PML-N plan well in time of putting to spin the process of political change in the country from Punjab province.
Instead, said the PPP source, the party has decided to promote the idea of carving out of a new province in Punjab to sway away political support of those demanding Saraiki province besides sharpening the political divide the PML-N and PML-Q pole apart on this political demand. The party source though conceded that the support to the proposal of Seraiki province is dangerous, as it would re-ignite the debate of creation of provinces in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, yet the party think tanks believe that it is high time for the PPP to consolidate its support in southern Punjab.
The source said as far the debate pertaining to creation of Hazara province in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the one comprising urban centres of Sindh, predominantly under the control of MQM, the party would cross the bridge when it reaches there. The source, however, argued that ground situation in one part of the country had to be viewed by delinking it with a similar or not so similar situation in other parts of the country.
The PPP source said the PML-N has posed a serious political challenge to the party government and the survival of the existing system and it could be addressed only by not allowing the country to go for early elections. The source maintained that the party led-government that has been made to stay in a hostile situation from the day it assumed power from political and non-political opponents sensing many a vibes which suggest that mid-term elections would only prove a catalyst for the transformation of democratic system to non-democratic system, if not dictatorial in nature.
