Since the floor-crossing ordinance was scrapped by prime minister Benazir Bhutto last month, the obnoxious practise of horsetrading has reared its ugly head again. In the NWFP, seven independents and two PML(N) stalwarts have been lured away from Mr Sharif’s stables. In the Punjab, 16 independents have formally joined the PML(J). Another two MPAs and one MNA have left Mr Sharif in the lurch and hitched a ride on Ms Bhutto’s bandwagon. In Sindh, the record shows a deserter a piece from the MQM, PML(N) and PML(F) to the PPP’s fold. We understand that more defections from the PML(N) cannot be ruled out.
Of course, Mr Sharif is clearly out of his depths. His strategy to try and destabilise Ms Bhutto has backfired. As a matter of fact, mutterings against their leader’s bravado can be heard in the ranks of the PML(N). It is being argued that it was stupid to provoke Ms Bhutto so early in the game. Their real fear is that if Mr Sharif’s threatened street agitation against Ms Bhutto fails to take off, such great demoralisation may set in that many more PML(N) wallas will be tempted to bolt in time to come.
But what about Ms Bhutto? Obviously, she is seeking to consolidate power. Islamabad, Sindh and Punjab are already in her grasp. NWFP is in no-man’s land today but she thinks it will fall into her lap tomorrow. A majority in the Senate, and with it the prized post of the Chairman, has been assured. The Presidency belongs to her. Once the loose ends have been nicely tied up, she believes she will become secure and last her full term.
Maybe. Maybe not. All said and done, serious misgivings will remain even if the prime minister acquires a seemingly unassailable position. When did a majority in Islamabad and the other provinces ever assure any Pakistani prime minister of any longevity in Islamabad? Mr Z A Bhutto seemed invincible until he was booted out. Ms Bhutto herself appeared to have got over the worse of her hiccups when she was abruptly ousted in 1990. Mr Sharif, of course, was thinking of ruling for ever when the curtains were drawn on him in 1993. In the final analysis, other things probably matter more.
Good and equitable government, for one, is important. If a government is capricious (like Mr Bhutto’s from 1972-77) or inefficient (like Ms Bhutto’s from 1988-90), or both corrupt and autocratic (like Mr Sharif’s from 1990-93), its survival is only a question of time. On all these counts, it may be premature to pass any judgement on Ms Bhutto’s second stint in power. But the general perception is that the prime minister is waffling. Her task forces have amounted to nothing much. Her foreign policy initiatives seem wooly and tentative. Her economic management is decidedly lacklustre. And so on. It is difficult to dispel the impression of a sense of drift, or deja vu, in Islamabad.
Fortunately, these molehills haven’t become mountains as yet. Most Pakistanis are keen to see at least one elected government, however uninspiring, complete its tenure. To that extent, there is some built-in goodwill for Ms Bhutto. Everyone is sick and tired of instability and political squabbling — that is why Mr Sharif’s negative tactics are increasingly alienating mainstream public opinion. But this goodwill is bound to start evaporating if Ms Bhutto is seen to lack the dynamism necessary for good, clean and efficient government.
However, one pre-requisite for such a government is political stability. Expectations are therefore high that Ms Bhutto will create conditions conducive for such an environment. But is the PM delivering on that score? When Pakistanis look at the phenomenal economic and political progress made by their Asian neighbours in recent years, they hope that one day they will be able to catch up with them. But when they look at the political landscape and find it littered with the debris of vengeance, conspiracy and political corruption, they wonder why they should accept leaders who are obsessed only with naked power. Instability serves only to convince them that their hopes for a brighter future are totally misplaced. It also makes them yearn for another Moeen Qureshi to descend from out of the blue.
It is in this context that the renewal of horsetrading, at the behest of the government in power, should be viewed. It is horsetrading which is responsible for the constitutional crisis in the NWFP. An added irony is that Mr Iftikhar Gillani and Mr Aitzaz Ahsan, once such bosom buddies in the cause of democracy, are tearing the constitution apart before the judges of the Peshawar High Court and Supreme Court. Regrettably, even President Farooq Leghari seems sanguine in the erroneous belief that the rules of the game haven’t been abrogated by such cynical power-plays.
We reiterate: Mr Sharif should not be allowed by Ms Bhutto to set her agenda. Two wrongs do not make a right. Horsetrading and instability hurts Ms Bhutto, not Mr Sharif. The prime minister should have more confidence in the people. They know who is right and who is wrong. It is not necessary to stoop to conquer Nawaz Sharif.