Rumour has it that the Peoples Democratic Alliance (PDA), which mainly comprises the PPP, Tehrik i Istiklal (TI) and the Tehrik e Nifaz e Fiqah e Jafaria (TNFJ), has been strained by internal dissensions recently.
Not all the alliance partners agree on how to deal with prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Ms Bhutto would like to ally with president Ghulam Ishaq to force Mr Sharif to hold force elections before next November (when the President’s term expires) and leave the question of the repeal of the 8th amendment and the election of a new President to the national and provincial assemblies which follow. mr Asghar Khan, however, is keen that Mr Sharif should be assisted in repealing the 8th amendment before next elections are held so that whoever is President at that time cannot adversely influence them as President Ishaq did in 1988 and 1990.
Ms Bhutto also supports the idea of appropriate checks and balances on the powers of the prime minister while Asghar Khan is quite happy co-existing with an all-powerful chief executive. That is why Ms Bhutto has lent her shoulder to the All Parties Conference of Nawabzada Nasrullah which is demanding the ouster of Mr Sharif by president Ishaq while Asghar Khan has studiously refrained from participating in it (indeed, he now says that “the APC is the President’s show exclusively”). No wonder then that Ms Bhutto is unhappy with the Supreme Court’s decision while Asghar Khan has welcomed it.
These are substantial points of divergence. Nevertheless, it does seem that other, less political and more personalised, irritations may be at the root of disaffection within the PDA. The TI and TNFJ leaders say that dislike the manner in which Ms Bhutto deals with them personally. They say “she doesn’t accord us the respect we deserve”; “she doesn’t return our calls promptly”; “she’s always talking on her Paktel while our meetings are in progress”; “she doesn’t consult us properly”; “she doesn’t confide in us”; “she’s rude and bossy”; “her attitude reeks of feudal arrogance”; “she loves talking but hates listening”; etc., etc.
Some of these charges may be true, and Ms Bhutto would be well-advised to change her demeanour. perceptions are important, mannerisms are noted, little things acquire undue significance. Often personal relations and cultural affinities count for more than political considerations. No one, however insignificant, likes to be snubbed or treated disrespectfully. Leadership is all about attracting people and cementing alliances.
But, in all fairness, the disgruntled leaders of the TI and TNFJ should also recognise Ms Bhutto’s net worth in comparison with their own. She is undoubtedly Pakistan’s premier leader. Tens of millions vote for her blindly. She has been prime minister once and might be again. In contrast, how many among the TI or TNFJ wallahs can even win their own seats in an election, let alone lead others to similar accomplishments? If Ms Bhutto has been generous enough to promise them 14 per cent of the PDA tickets in the next elections, they should be grateful even if she ends up helping only four or five of them to win their seats.
A sense of proportion and propriety is also needed in the realm of personal relationships. As a woman who meets scores of people every day, Ms Bhutto can hardly leap to her feet when people enter or leave the room, let alone affect a double handshake and triple embrace which is the norm among the predominantly male politicians of this country. if she is unable or unwilling to consult all the PDA leaders always before opening her mouth in public or taking a decision, it’s because her words and judgements, rather then theirs, really matter in the end. And if some of her mannerisms are alienating, it is because she’s more Westernised than they are, not because they’re any less feudalistic than she is.
In fact, we rather suspect that Ms Bhutto’s real failing lies in her inability to grasp the essential codes of popular culture, of “rakh rakhao” as it is practised across the classes. But if millions of ordinary Pakistanis are prepared to ignore her pidgin Urdu, her PDA alliance partners might also consider a more sympathetic attitude towards this failing. Of course, this is not to say that Ms Bhutto shouldn’t pay greater attention to our cultural mores if she wishes to succeed in politics.
That said, it should be emphasised that the PDA has been a useful alliance, no less to the PPP than to any of its partners. But political alliances have a habit of cropping up in hard times and evaporating just as quickly when everyone is jostling to gain to toehold in power. It is anybody’s guess whether or not such good times are already at hand. But if Ms Bhutto’s allies feel that Mr Nawaz Sharif is her to stay and the PDA is dragging them down, they should get on with life as partners of the prime minister. And spare us their long lost principles and recently discovered objections to Ms Bhutto.