Hassan Nisar, a widely respected columnist/journalist, is known for his independent views on multiple issues facing the society and country. His knowledge-based views and projection as such without an iota of doubt in the context of fear or favour is commendable. His understanding of the leadership of Chairman Bilawal Bhutto, grandson of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and son of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, is worth perusing. I may leave it to the readers to form their own opinion after going through the column that appeared in the daily Jang on last Friday. It may be kept in mind that the columnist was the ardent supporter of Imran Khan, PTI chief, and used to project him as the ultimate answer to the predicaments of the poor masses.
But, earlier on from now, he had been seeking the forgiveness of the people with compunction for his misplaced support as he had miserably failed to come up to the expectations of the people. Chairman Bilawal Bhutto may not surely disappoint the columnist to change his opinion about his leadership because his narrative is both realistic and futuristic encompassing his unwavering commitment to the constitutional rule. Only time will bear witness to the credentials of the mettle of his leadership as a reservoir of charisma, courage and vision. However his impeccable statesmanship in the field of politics looks both exciting and promising signifying him as the true heir of the Bhuttos’ legacy.
Co-Chairman PPP, Asif Ali Zardari, while responding to a question last week after his appearing in the court made precise and candid observation about the sole objective of the PPP current political struggle against the incumbent government -- to emasculate the government to impairment and also save the Parliament and democracy at the same time. It clearly suggested that the PPP leadership was determined to get rid of the government led by the prime minister without providing the opportunity to the despotic forces to harm or derail the incumbent political system.
It is subtle and difficult position of the PPP that though considered the Parliament as the product of rigged elections and yet not prepared to delegitimise or dismantle it at the expense of the continuity of democracy. It may not be the ideal preference.
But under the circumstances the PPP leadership firmly believed that while it would continue its political struggle ensuring the longevity of the incumbent Parliament remained its top priority to underwrite the continuity of the political system, democracy. PPP may therefore resist and fight out all temptations because continuity of democracy is non-negotiable no matter the cost. PPP cannot afford to compromise on democracy because its leaders had nurtured it with their blood. Shaheed Benazir Bhutto’s iron-clad commitment for the defence and promotion of the democracy had no parallel who was assassinated by authoritarian and extremist forces.
The two objectives of PPP of its current political struggle are daunting challenges to overcome but the opposition parties in the recent All Parties Conference in Islamabad seemingly had also demonstrated their unequivocal resolve with unanimity not to launch protest movement against the government thus taking no chances of harming the continuity of the political system and the parliamentary politics.
They would though launch mass contact campaign to apprise the people of the injustices being inflicted on them by the government through the ghastly anti-people policies that included the IMF sponsored budget bound to trigger the cost of living up to an unaffordable scale for the poor segments of the society. To frustrate the insidious official fabrications to delegitimise the democratic institutions, it would also be in the agenda of the opposition to lay bare the government’s misdemeanors of anti-people, anti-democracy and anti-federation policies while highlighting the predictable crippling impact on the people.
The media reports are privy to the strenuous persuasion of the JUF (leader) leadership that had been pressing all the opposition leaders not to give time to the PTI government and instead stand up to upstage it before it gets its footings on the ground while continuing the cascade of inflicting of untold miseries on the people of Pakistan. The PPP and PML-N leadership including other parties presumably were not in approbation with the rightest party and successfully persuaded it to hold the horses as the impetuousness might prove counter-productive for the parliamentary politics -- the first and may be the ultimate choice. The (APC) media statement was indeed bold and forceful enough as it decided to hold public meeting in Lahore in the month of July this year to protest against the election rigging in the 2018 general elections, rejected the setting up of the Commission to probe debts taken only during the last ten years minus General Musharraf era, disapproved the National Development Council (NDC), expressed deep concerns over the plight of the families of disappeared persons and took strong exception to the brazen attack on the independence of judiciary. The statement explicitly stated that there was no need of (NDC) when high profile constitutional body, National Economic Council (NEC), was already in existence.
The government leadership may not unwisely contemplate to challenge the prudence of the opposition parties’ political strategy as sign of weakness for not deciding the launching of mass movement against the government. Undoubtedly, the opposition parties may be quite capable to bring the people to the street in large number to pull down the government. The task seems easier in the face of government’s fast losing the political capital and the popular support. The emerging scenario may be quite conducive for anti-government movement because the people are hugely disappointed of this government due to its failure to provide relief to the people. Instead, it is generally perceived that the PTI government is responsible for multiplying their miseries of day-to-day life beyond recognition. As a matter of fact, overwhelming majority of opposition parties are convinced that the government may fall under its own weight in the face of its abject performance in all sectors of the political economy resultantly making the collective and individual lives of all and sundry torturous and unbearable to the extent of misery. The threshold of their resilience may be already tipping over the edges that may rock the edifice of the government sooner than later. The political strategy of the opposition parties seems sound in the perspective of saving the Parliament and the democracy enabling them to complete their constitutional tenures. The anti-democratic forces out there may not be provided a window of opportunity to hurt democracy restored after carrying lot of sweat and blood. Its upward trajectory within the ambit of the Constitution may continue without interruption.
Who would disagree with the view that the obtaining situation in the country is not ripe for the anti-government drive? The hellfire of price hike has been hounding everyone indiscriminately, and with the commencement of the new budget, 2019-20, its outrageous fury may unfold to hound the people like the Shakespearean ghost hounded Macbeth. It seems that the government is not cut out for the role of the management of the economy mainly because of its incompetence, indecisiveness, inexperience and lack of understanding as all indicators of the economy are showing negative trend in perpetuity. The fall of the value of the rupee has been prominently hitting the headlines in media since this government came to power without showing any sign of containment not to speak of making a turnaround. The government has seemingly miserably failed to reap the expected dividend of 35% devaluation of rupee as the exports are almost stagnant while dollar and rupee parity continues to tilt heavily in favour of the foreign currency.
The deficit in current and foreign accounts remains unbridgeable showing no sign of abating notwithstanding the prime minister’s recent hilarious claim that the economy was out of woods. The rate of inflation, known as tax on poor, is poised to hit the double digit reducing the purchasing power of the poor substantially threatening their very subsistence level. The expected raise in gas and electricity tariff under the diktat of IMF may surely undermine the competitive edge of the local manufacturing industry that may prove like a sledgehammer on the toe of our manufacturing industry that is already gasping for breath. The outlook of poverty alleviation is depressing because millions of youth may surely not get jobs when the projected growth rate is just around 3% during the current financial year. The falling of 4 million people below the poverty line is the foregone conclusion in the face of projected growth rate of the economy. It clearly means the job market may further shrink and the bulging youth in millions may remain unemployed despite running from pillar to post in the quest of finding jobs. The social and political impact of millions of unemployed youth is terrifying to imagine. Playing to the gallery may not accrue the benefit of doubt for the government anymore after the ten months of its rule riddled with inconsequential flip flops on policies.
muhammadshaheedi@yahoo.com
