At a time when consensus building is the need of the hour because of a multitude of challenges facing the country, political parties and their leaders continue to change their stance, apparently in their bid to get a bigger share of the pie. Logic and principle-based politics is nowhere to be seen and almost all parties are proudly taking U-turns to suit their petty personal and party interests. This is in sharp contrast to the advice being rendered by sincere and patriotic Pakistanis to all political parties to accept results of the elections and respect the mandate given by the people.
The most interesting aspect of the entire situation is the flip-flop attitude of both the PTI and the PPP on the issue of mutual collaboration and the government formation, especially at the Centre, where no political party could muster enough strength to form its own government and a partnership between any two of the three (PML-N, PPP and PTI) is a pre-requisite as other political parties with the exception of MQM-P have been reduced to non-entities in the February 08 elections. Media reports suggested that the PPP was initially preferring an alliance with the PTI but received cold-shouldered response from the PTI leadership and then, per force, it had to sit with the PML(N) and announce it will vote for Shehbaz Sharif, who has been nominated by his party for the office of the Prime Minister. However, as both former President Asif Ali Zardari and PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari were extending assurances of support to PML(N), reportedly in return for several crucially important Constitutional offices, PTI leader Sher Afzal Khan Marwat claimed that Mr Zardari kept trying to contact him Tuesday night regarding forging of an alliance and that the jailed PTI founder Imran Khan would be conveyed of the development and he would make a final decision. On his part, IK had ruled out the possibility of talks with three main parties – PML(N), PPP and MQM(P) but the PPP leadership continued to try to cultivate the PTI leadership for a partnership at the Centre. After meeting IK at Adyala Jail, party leaders claimed Imran has given them go ahead to contact political parties including PPP, ANP, JUI(F) and nationalist parties. While Awami National Party (ANP) on Thursday ruled out negotiations with Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, claiming it had stolen ANP’s mandate, Maulana Fazlur Rehman received the PTI delegation with open arms and the two parties, as per media reports, agreed to launch a joint struggle against, what they called, rigging in elections. Both the PTI founder and Maulana have been hurling abuses on each other but the delegation delivered a message of Imran Khan for Maulana Fazlur Rehman pleading for mutual collaboration. In a related development, the Maulana, in a television interview, claimed that the no-confidence motion against then Prime Minister Imran Khan was orchestrated at the instance of then Army Chief General Bajwa and Peshawar Corps Commander General Faiz Hameed, a shift in the stance to placate the PTI leadership. And contrary to the public posture that IK has adopted, a former Secretary Defence Lt-General (Retd) Naeem Khalid Lodhi claimed that there was a contact between the establishment and IK. Circumstances have also forced PTI to contact former federal minister and KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, who formed his own breakaway faction of PTI known as PTIP. Meanwhile, after controversial nomination of Ali Amin Gandapur as Chief Minister of KP, the PTI founder showed maturity in picking candidates for election to the offices of the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister Punjab. Irrespective of how many votes he could receive in the given circumstances, Omer Ayub Khan (nominated to contest election of the PM) has greater acceptability and is known for his logical and balanced approach. Mian Aslam Iqbal, nominated for the election of the CM Punjab also has a good reputation. As PPP is trying its level best to cobble together a coalition Government in Balochistan, PML(N) has also announced to try its luck by contacting independents and other parties. The overall political situation is still fluid and anything could happen in a free for all environment. However, political parties must adhere to the saner advice of Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Convener of MQM-P, who has urged all political parties to express a spirit of sacrifice and unity to steer Pakistan out of its current crisis, cautioning against targeting the military establishment as detrimental to the nation’s well-being and democratic stability.
