Coalition decides to stay put

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) led coalition government has decided to continue in the office till August next year, government officials said, ending a prolonged paralysis that was threatening a virtual economic collapse of the country.

Among the ruling coalition, the PMLN appeared utterly confused internally on whether to step down or to continue in office, which would entail taking some tough decisions like hiking petrol and diesel prices to stem serious financial haemorrhage.

“We will continue in office and will not leave the government under drummed up pressure,” PMLN supremo Nawaz Sharif told his younger brother, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, according to a senior party official.

“Nawaz Sharif was not referring to pressure from Imran Khan but the way a narrative has been constructed to force the ruling coalition government to resign,” the official said. Sources within the coalition government say Imran Khan’s announcement on Sunday about the PTI's long march on Islamabad also triggered reaction from the leadership.

The debate around holding early elections had been a Sharif, PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and JUIF chief Maulana Fazlur Rehamn – for consultation amid pressure from the PTI to announce early elections. The allied parties' heads met Sunday night to discuss the unstable political situation in the country after the announcement of a long march on Islamabad by the PTI chairman.

The government is reportedly considering accommodating the PTI for the long march if the party intends to hold a rally and go back. However, if it stages a sit-in or attempts to paralyse the system through agitation, the government will opt for legal options to stop it, added the sources.

Earlier, the PMLN, among the ruling coalition, appeared utterly confused internally on whether to step down or to continue in office, which would entail taking some tough decisions like hiking petrol and diesel prices to stem serious financial hemorrhage.

“We will continue in office and will not leave the government under drummed up pressure,” PMLN supremo Nawaz Sharif told his younger brother, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, according to a senior party official.

“Nawaz Sharif was not referring to pressure from Imran Khan but the way a narrative has been constructed to force the ruling coalition government to resign,” the official said. Sources within the coalition government say Imran Khan’s announcement on Sunday about the PTI long march on Islamabad also triggered reaction from the leadership.

The debate around holding early elections had been a thorny issue for the coalition partners well before the vote of no confidence against the then prime minister Imran Khan took place in April.

Insiders claim that in February, when plans for the vote of no confidence were being finalised, the understanding among various stakeholders was that the new government would call an election five weeks after removing Khan from the office of prime minister.

However, the question of elections became a source of paralysis and was hotly contested soon after Sharif's coalition government came to power. Several factors contributed to this paralysis. Firstly, Imran Khan had frozen petroleum prices, scuttling a life-saving deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and also created a constitutional crisis on his way out of office.

He attempted to dodge the vote of no confidence against him by suspending a constitutional process. He also created an unsubstantiated narrative of a US-backed regime change conspiracy against his government. Khan's unconstitutional manoeuvring was thwarted by the Supreme Court, leading to his ouster through the vote of no confidence in the National Assembly on April 9. But his regime change conspiracy theory did not dissipate and instead gained popularity through mammoth rallies the PTI organised across the country after Imran Khan's ouster from office.

Insiders say the strategy had its intended effect: sensing popular pressure, the establishment strongly advised the new government to hold elections as soon as possible.

Until Sunday night, top PMLN leaders were also of the view that going into an election and seeking a fresh mandate was far more practical than governing through a fragile coalition at a time when the country is at the brink of an economic meltdown, which demands some extremely tough decisions to be made.

Despite resistance from the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), which is the second biggest coalition partner, the PMLN was preparing to resign and call an election. Maryam Nawaz, in one of her recent speeches, hinted at the debate within the PMLN that it was better to govern with a fresh mandate.

When PM Shehbaz Sharif made his recent visit to Karachi, he might have thought his term was likely to end soon as the decision to resign had already been made.

Sources privy to the developments say that PPP's Asif Ali Zardari met the head of a top office in the country last week and discussed the prevailing political crisis in the country. Zardari and his allies in the PDM were given assurance that the establishment would remain neutral and that no coalition partner would be asked to leave the government to force an early election.

The allies were encouraged to negotiate with the IMF and steer the country away from economic disaster. They were told that the government was free to deal with Imran Khan and his protest movement as they saw fit, but that they should not expect support from the establishment to crush the protest.