Warring politicians have yet again brought us to the brink of anarchy. The Supreme Court’s judgement has only made matters worse. Its central assumption — that there was no constitutional deadlock because the President and the PM could work together reasonably well — has been belied by subsequent events.
The primary responsibility for precipitation new crises must rest squarely with Mr Nawaz Sharif, if only because he has had the most to win or lose. After becoming PM again, Mr Sharif ought to have shown statesmanship and taken two steps to diffuse hostilities. First, he should have driven straight to the Presidency and offered to forgive and forget, live and let live. President Ishaq, who was badly mauled by the Supreme Court, would have been put on the defensive and his moral authority further eroded by the magnanimity of a victorious, younger man. It would have been difficult for him to do anything other than fade into retirement.
Second, Mr Sharif should have offered the olive branch to mr Manzoor Wattoo and allayed the latter’s fears of retribution. Within a couple of weeks, Mr Wattoo would have seen the writing on the wall occasioned by an isolated President in retreat, he would then have fallen into Mr Sharif’s lap like a ripe plum. And, at the end of the day, obeisant ally than Mr Pervez Elahi in the Punjab.
Instead, Mr Sharif instantly trained his guns at the Presidency, forcing Mr Ishaq Khan to jump back into the trenches and stiffen his resistance. Likewise, the hasty attempt to unseat Mr Wattoo forced the CM to burn his boats and jump into the PPP’s camp.
One thing has led to another, with Mr Sharif going downhill all the way and taking the country with him. The kidnapping of the Punjab assembly secretary by Mr Sharif’s cohorts resulted in the first dissolution of the provincial assembly; the “lotas” at the Marriott in Islamabad provided the pretext for the second dissolution. On desperation, Mr Sharif blundered into bulldozing a resolution in parliament, followed by a fraudulent Proclamation, in an attempt to take over the Punjab. When it seemed like backfiring, he sent in the Rangers to seize power in Lahore.
But this, Mr Sharif’s latest attempt at a coup d’etat, has severely strained the Pakistan army’s patience and neutrality. Fearing bloodshed, the army has rightly questioned the PM’s illegal orders, forcing him to seek due process of law.
Mr Sharif, however, remains unrepentant. Having antagonised the President, the leaders of the opposition and sections of his own Muslim League and IJI, he now seems determined to alienate army chief General Waheed. a vicious disinformation campaign against the COAS by a select group of loyal journalists is being fueled by the PM’s media managers. One perverted columnist in an Urdu daily which blindly supports the PM has gone so far as to write that if the institution of the state continue to be eroded, “history will judge the heirs of Abdul Ghaffar Khan as standing with the saviours of this country and the heirs of Abdur Rab Nishtar with those who would destroy Pakistan”. so, accolades for Wali Khan and slander for Gen Waheed.
The object of this scurrilous exercise is obvious enough. It is to put the army chief on the spot. In this manner, the PM is hoping to buy time and obtain a favourable decision from the courts in order to take control of the Punjab.
While the COAS may indeed be pushed to the back foot for the moment, his resentment at being unfairly charged is bound to simmer. This is how they antagonised Gen Asif Nawaz and the same treatment is being meted out to Gen Waheed. With such allegations do they sow the seeds of discord in Pakistan’s most important institution and seek to bend it to suit their irresponsible will. But this strategy cuts both ways. Should there be further civil strife, there is no knowing what the army will do and which way it will go.
And such a situation could easily develop in the days ahead. The opposition is gearing up to launch a long march on Islamabad. This time it will be a very different affair from the one last November. This time the governments of Punjab and the NWFP will support the marchers. This time the marchers will get to Islamabad in their hundreds of thousands. What will happen then? Will the federal government order the paramilitary fores to mow the demonstrators down? Will the COAS stand by and watch a massacre taking place?
Mr Nawaz Sharif is playing with fire. He would be advised to give up his ambitions for being Prime Minister, President, COAS and Chief Justice all rolled into one. A consensus now exists across the provinces and the institutions of the state that free and fair elections are needed to break the logjam. If Nawaz Sharif refuses to respond to the call of the times, he will be responsible for the fatal consequences which follow.