THE very decision by Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervaiz Ashraf to accept the resignations of thirty-five members of PTI has not sent a positive message.
Though the Speaker has the prerogative to do so, yet it has come at a time when the PTI the other day hinted to return to the Assembly.
Then the Speaker himself is on record saying the resignations would only be accepted following the personal appearance of these lawmakers before him for verification.
Moreover Raja Pervaiz Ashraf who indeed is a very seasoned politician and several cabinet members themselves invited the PTI to return to the Assembly and play their part to strengthen democratic traditions in the country.
Why this then sudden change of heart? Following the U-Turn of Imran Khan of returning to assemblies, the very decision of accepting the resignations is now being seen as a U-Turn on the part of government.
At present a game of chess is being played in Pakistan’s politics and if this process continued for petty political interests, the consequences will be dire.
At a time when collective efforts need to be made to save the economy, the political leadership is focused more on power game and how to outmanoeuvre each other.
The stock market hit by political uncertainty and worrying economic indicators saw a decline of 3.5 five percent on Tuesday.
Amid a shortage of dollars, the gap between its rates in the interbank and open markets has significantly widened, drastically hurting the economy and diverting remittances from the legal banking channel to the grey market.
The exchange rate has been hit hard by a steep decline in the central bank’s foreign exchange reserves, which have shrunk to a near nine-year low of $4.34 billion.
It is need of the hour to take the country towards political stability to address the chronic issues on the economic front.
Instead of outsmarting each other, it will be better for the political leadership to sit together and evolve consensus on important issues.
National interests must be kept supreme not only in words but also in actions.
