Head of PPP Media Cell
Panamagate noose is sadly tightening around the neck of PML-N-led government as it is not, at all, willing to address the reservations of the Opposition on TORs. Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has made it abundantly clear that the party will pursue Panamagate to the logical end. It will approach all available forums in the pursuit. Meanwhile, Adviser to the Sindh Chief Minister for Information, Maula Bux Chandio, while talking to media, stated that the PPP would not join in the movement directed against the “Centre” to derail democracy. Opposition leader Syed Khurshid Shah has expressed similar views ‘pulling out the plug,’ adding the party will take to the streets next month finally if the stalemate continues.
Vagueness may be the immediate impression of the above stated stances. As a matter of fact, these are not so. Rather these complement the cause of each other to keep the democracy not only on the even keel but also strengthen it by ensuring accountability and transparency as the indispensible imperatives. Democracy will remain vulnerable without making the government top functionaries accountable. Democracy and accountability should be followed in tandem as the ultimate political preferred strategy. This is the precise elucidation of the party position.
Unfortunately, the stand-off between the opposition and the government on PanamaLeaks TORs is continuing, and hopes of building consensus are fading to the utter dismay of the people of the country. The hopes should be rekindled by all the stakeholders with their firm resolve to bridge the differences with vision shoving aside vendetta. The bone of contention is the obduracy of the government side for not agreeing to the non-commencement of PanamaLeaks investigations starting from the prime minister and his immediate family members. On the other hand, the Opposition is persistent that the investigations must start from the prime minister because he is the trustee of the highest public office of the country and therefore he must be above all suspicions. The opposition stand is logical and kosher because the trustee should possess impeccable integrity beyond any shadow of doubt. The stalemate is continuing eloquently suggesting that there are skeletons in the closet. This situation is not tenable and has to take turn for the worst sooner. The government is not realising the gravity of the situation that is fraught with dangers to the political system as well.
The PPP’s utmost endeavour is to break the gridlock but the other side is determined to hold its grounds and as such dropping no hint of flexibility. On the face of the uncompromising position of the government, the Opposition parties have decided not to join the deliberations of the Parliamentary Committee meeting meant to figure our TORs till the government is not prepared to give an understanding of accommodation. The Speaker of the National Assembly has assured the opposition that he would use his good offices to bring around the government so that the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee could be convened to work out the TORs. The issue is likely to remain inconclusive, and as such the political forecast on the horizon of the country looks depressing by all estimations.
Opposition leader Syed Khurshid Shah in an interview to a local TV has expressed his dismay over the obstinacy of the government for not willing to budge an inch from its position and the impasse is increasingly looming larger with the passing of each day. He disclosed that the PPP would also be on the roads during the month of September to protest against the government’s indifference in figuring out the consensus TORs on PanamaLeaks adding it was playing delaying tactics hoping that time would blunt the edge of PanamaLeaks scam. That is unlikely.
Senator Aitzaz Ahsan while talking to media asserted that the Opposition had demonstrated flexibility to the extent of 70% but the government was adamant leaving no option but to protest against the government’s deafening intransigence draped in arrogance of appalling proportion. It is wrong approach that will complicate the issue to the level of intractability. The government is well advised to make sincere efforts to seek out convergence considering the Opposition as partner in democracy than an adversary.
This partnership is fundamental for the continuity of the country’s nascent democracy. The asphyxiation of this partnership, either by design or by default, in the chequered political history of the country had led to the men on the horseback to pull down the democratic edifice. Democracy needs careful handling in the face of the lurking dangers in the shadow. Higher stakes demand statesman’s vision and courage. The test of leadership is transforming adversary into an opportunity.
Presently, People of Pakistan are very much worried of the gathering political storm. Their concerns are well founded because the ongoing tussle between the government and the Opposition is in stark contrast to the democratic practices based on understanding, collective wisdom and meaningful consultations. People want the continuity of the political system and are averse to the nightmare of revisiting of the politics of victimisation and witch hunting that led to the rocking of the boat during yesteryears.
The government should take tangible political initiative sooner the better by acceding to the demand of the Opposition in the largest interest of the political system. The government has bigger responsibility on its shoulders to defuse the inevitability of the untoward situation that is bound to surface if ambivalence continues to sway the thinking of the mandarins in Islamabad.
The ill-affordable stasis of the ruling party should be replaced by proclivity of alacrity to take visionary decisions to strengthen democracy because only a democratic Pakistan could offer a bright, secure and peaceful future to the people. All other models of governance had failed miserably in the country leaving behind heart-wrenching legacies in the shape of dismemberment of the country, Afghan war, menace of extremism and terrorism along with drug and Kalashnikov culture. All autocrats’ rules bequeathed shame and derision to the nation. Democratic leaders, on the contrary, made Pakistan’s federation stronger by giving consensus constitution. They also made the defence of the country impregnable by equipping it with nuclear and missile technology. The journey of making Pakistan a citadel of Quaid’s Pakistan should continue without taking into account the considerations of the narrative of political mileage. This journey must continue without disruption.
Pakistan needs unity in the country to get rid of the legacies of the dictators -- terrorism and extremism -- those have badly bruised the threshold of stability posing existential threat. The political parties do play a critical role in uniting the people to stand guard against the internal and external forces those are hell bound to hurt the country in all possible ways. The government should take the leading role in forging unity instead of enmeshing in poor judgments nudging the country towards the deep cleavage. The present political environment in the country surely does not hold good for the people and the country alike. Who will be happy when the entire Opposition will be protesting on the roads for being pushed to the wall?
The enemy of the country and the democracy will be jumping out of their skin anticipating the accomplishment of their pernicious agenda. The international community will be laughing at us with the lamentable remarks the nation has not mend its ways even after the aftermaths of autocrats’ successive rule. The politicians have to prove their worth by denying the opportunity to the enemy to inflict, God forbid, yet another blow to the country and its political system.
The pall of doom and gloom is hanging over the political horizon of the country. The responsibility, in the case, will be fundamentally pinned down on the mandarins as being myopic and self-serving devoid of quality leadership. They will be deemed as part of the problem instead of the part of solution. The mandarins will be held responsible for the political mayhem, the worst scenario for the country. Only the naysayers will be in state of ecstasy over the windfall.
The scuffling of the politicians will certainly dampen the national spirit at a time when our eastern and western boarders are not safe and the enemies are in the look out to harm us with vengeance. India’s blatant interference in our internal affairs recently should be enough to serve as rallying cry to motivate the government to reach out to the Opposition parties to address their reservations. Our enemy’s bellicosity to establish its hegemony in the region on the basis of gun-boat diplomacy is well known. Divided Pakistan’s voice against human rights violations in IHK will have no impact on the international community. In a way, the Kashmiri cause will also be affected.
One wonders as why the politicians have not learnt lesson from the politics of confrontation and witch hunting. Those who do learn from history hardly make any difference for the better. The revisiting of politics of confrontation will give credence to the narrative that Pakistani politicians have not learnt from the history as they are again prepared to repeat the history instead of re-writing the same. What an irony?
muhammadshaheediyahoo.com