Futility of gridlock

Former prime minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gillani while talking to media on last Friday after appearing before the NAB team rendered a worth-considering advice to the ruling party leadership of letting the opposition play its role as such adding the government may desist from playing the role of opposition and the government at the same time.

His frustration clearly implied that if present gridlock continued for the unforeseeable future that may lead to the end of the tunnel where there would no light. Unfortunately, the advice is most likely to fall on the deaf ear of the ruling elite because their skewed up political strategy revolves around to keep the opposition off balance through court cases and NAB investigations so that they could run the government trouble free without facing the tough times.

The culmination of this wishful thinking may not surely see the light of the day because it definitely falls in the realm of improbability in a democratic dispensation. Opposition constitutes the other indispensable part of the whole political system that may not be wished away. The dynamics of the democratic system warrant that both the treasury and opposition may work in tandem to fulfil the ultimate objectives of serving the people for which they have been elected.

The outcome of the eight months rule of the PTI government clearly suggests that the government has been holding the wrong end of the stick as it has miserably failed to provide relief to the people who have lost hopes of better days during the watch of incumbent government. Ironically, the ruling party leadership is insistent upon the righteousness of its failed strategy and as such is not willing to resort to paradigm shift to the collective disappointment of the nation.

Their sense of pontification seems endlessly dull that is doomed to repeat the predictable lamentable prognosis. Honestly speaking, consensus may be fast emerging among the people, political observers, media persons and academia that the government has not delivered at all and prospects of deliverance are bleak in the future as well because the leadership is stuck in a rut of its fixations those are bound to reinforce the failures. The chronicle of the government’s handling of the governance issues is hopeless and the perception is strengthening as reality check carries the veracity that is reverberating right across.

Prime Minister Imran Khan’s out of sync repeated statements on important national and international importance subjects, entailing far reaching political and diplomatic implications, are immense cause of worry.

The recent cull de sac of faux pas in quick succession, attributed to the slip of tongue and back to back incoherent statements, have been continuing that may surely sadly suggest that his sense of proportion is on the decline the coveted office may not afford. The prime minister may, therefore, get full briefings before speaking on the subjects having direct bearings on the diplomatic and political dimensions of the country. He may avoid expressing his views extempore on important foreign policy issues because his words are taken seriously by the international community as being the head of the government of an important country.

The Foreign Office’s repeated clarification of the prime minister’s statements as “understood out of context” on foreign policy issues have badly backfired. There was no need at all to give his views those had to be clarified later when the damage was already done. His point of view that Prime Minister Modi’s victory in the Indian elections would be more helpful to engage to resolve the long standing issues with the country than the victory of his opponent parties as they might be fearful in engaging with Pakistan due to the fierce backlash of the rightest lobby. The Indian leadership and media were indeed provided with another tool of Pakistan bashing by the prime minister of Pakistan, by default, to electrify their election campaign against Pakistan.

No diplomatic urgency was on the horizon far and near to give this type of statement by the prime minister of Pakistan. Another diplomatic gaffe was when the prime minister rendered suggestion to Afghan government of giving representation to the Taliban in the potential Afghan interim government. It was obviously bitterly resented by the Afghan leadership that decided to recall their ambassador to Pakistan reflecting the stern diplomatic rebuff. Afghanistan treated it as the blatant interference in its internal affairs. It was also in violation of the long held Pakistan policy position of facilitating the Afghan owned and Afghan led settlement of the Afghan problem.

In his recent visit to Iran the prime minister of Pakistan confessed that Pakistan soil was used for carrying out terrorist activities in Iran and vice versa. Again, there might not the need to go to public on such an important and sensitive subject that was most probably had been discussed during the visit behind the closed doors. His slip of tongue cull de sac of tongue is least expected of the leader who is holding the coveted office of the chief executive of the country and was also Oxford University illumine, UK, with subjects in the relevant disciplines. The leaders of that stature are least expected to indulge in slip of tongue undertakings as they are extraordinary people required to take epoch making decisions at critical times seeking redemption out of extreme odds notwithstanding the factors those might be out of their control.

In the domestic politics, the track record of dealing with important issues through the parliamentary forum is shockingly disappointing. The people’s fear of ill-aboding are not without foundation because they are not feeling better off since this government assumed the reign of the country. The economy is gasping for breath; unemployment is on the rise and hellfire of price hike forcing the poor people to go to bed with empty stomach. The situation may be heading to precipice and the hungry and angry people may take on the street as a last resort entailing collateral damages of unimaginative proportion. The PTI leadership whaling and bellowing leveling incendiary allegations against the opposition politicians has spoiled the political atmosphere of the country that desperately needs political consensus to overcome the dire challenges those have come to head due to the permeating political and economic mess. But, the leadership does not feel the necessity to change the course whereas the fair-minded people, political observers, media personalities and even stalwarts within the party fold have been urging for the paradigm shift, but in vain. The leadership has been recklessly following the policy of browbeating of the opposition into submission. The full-throttled negativity is in total contrast of the democratic ethos that may surely yield the results of no one’s liking.

The absence of the leader of the House form the Parliament in perpetuity is now being deemed by the observers as a willful attempt of seeking refuge in invisibility. He may be apprehensive of facing the parliamentarians to answer the piercing questioning. His shying away from the Parliament may be forgiven and forgotten if he starts taking keen interest in the legislative business and also seek the cooperation of the opposition to run the House on the well-established pattern of the functioning democracy. Chairman Bilawal Bhutto’s offer last week to sit with the government to amend the ‘NAB black law,’ introduced by General Musharraf, offers an excellent opportunity for the treasury benches to undertake the legislative business for making up the losses because legislation has been in a rut mainly due to the government intransigence towards the opposition for no good reason. The offer is least expected to invoke the sense of wisdom of the mandarins if evaluated in the prism of their track record.

Ugly scenes at the floor of the House hurling unsavory language against the lawmakers of other side and vice versa is so unbecoming that deserves strong disapproval of the highest order emanating from all directions. Quite a number of members dare to violate the decorum of the House to the extent as they dare to rush to the desk of the Speaker throwing torn pieces of agenda in the air to register their protest. They are expected of conducting themselves as role model because they have been elected by the people to represent them in the Parliament and solve their problems instead of wasting their time like a tantrum entity. The treasury and opposition bench may consider the already constituted ‘Parliamentary Conduct Committee’ functional on pro-active basis with the mandate to disqualify, temporary or permanently, depending on the culpability of the parliamentary misconduct at the floor of the House.

Expecting against all odds, the situation may take pleasant turn if the leader of House graces the House with his attendance like the PPP former PPP prime minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gillani did. He never missed the parliamentary proceedings. Undoubtedly, it was the shining example of the worthwhile conduct. But the unqualified absence of the incumbent leader of the House from the Parliament encourages the habitual members to roil the House with impunity. The leader of the House may take the ownership as per the constitution of running the House in orderly manners as per the best practices of functioning democracy. This U-turn may surely be deemed as exceptional for the good reason.

muhammadshaheedi@yahoo.com