Long gone
are the days when Musharaf enjoyed unprecedented support in the
Pakistani people, just after he had prematurely ended a decade of
political turmoil and corruption. Never before were the actions of
a dictator welcomed with open arms. Misuse of power and the
bastardisation of democracy by the previous governments of Nawaz
Sharif and Banazir Bhutto had demanded a revolution of some sort.
A bloodless coup d'état was the order of the day, which brought a
sigh of relief to all patriotic entities within and outside
Pakistan, as the country seemed to have been saved from total
catastrophe. Musharaf came with a reform agenda promising
eradication of corruption, across the board accountability,
devolution of power, economic stability and true democracy.
Parties who were opposed to the dictatorial nature of ruling by
the Nawaz Sharif’s government had no choice but to support this
agenda promising true democracy. In his first year in office
Musharaf seemed to be more democratic than the previous so-called
democratic governments of Nawaz Sharif and Banazir Bhutto winning
support and cooperation from many political parties. The
accountability process was also making inroads by convicting such
bigwigs who had been out of the reach of the law for a decade.
But this was all to good to believe for Pakistan and had to end,
which it did. Musharaf slowly but surely abandoned his seven point
agenda. So much so that the terms ‘accountability’ and
‘democracy’ have lost their true meanings in Pakistan due to
their utter misuse. The accountability process is now selective
with NAB making controversial deals with convicts, with some
parties going as far as saying that PML(Q) has been made a safe
haven from the accountability process. As far as implementing true
democracy is concerned, all hopes of it were dashed by
Musharaf’s amendment packages more appropriately termed as
‘power packages’. All parties have rejected the amendments
package, this being a big vote of no confidence for Musharaf,
which was a great contrast to how things were two years ago. These
‘power packages’ were the last straw for many political
parties who withdrew their support and cooperation with the
government, with some entering into opposition. The proposition of
these ‘power packages’ made it clear to all political parties
that Musharaf had no intention of implementing true democracy,
rather was only interested in centralising power to himself.
With public opinion severely against Musharaf’s government,
political parties are conscious of the fact that the public will
be willing to support any viable alternative to Musharaf. As a
result there have been continual negotiations in the past few
weeks between all political parties with regards to the formation
of electoral alliances.
Even though nothing is final about any particular electoral
alliance there are reports of two main electoral alliances being
formed. One of them being that of the PML(Q), MMA and other
smaller parties, with the other being the PPP, PML(N) and the
Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) joining hands.
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About
Writer:
Mr. Jawed Iqbal, is an independent writer and a
political analyst. His articles appear in printed and
electronic media of Pakistan
eMail : JAWEDS_WORLD@HOTMAIL.COM |
Well as far as the first supposed
alliance is concerned, it seems difficult to conceive how a pro
government party such as PML(Q) can work together, let alone form
an electoral alliance with the MMA which has been bitterly opposed
to Musharaf’s government. Furthermore, the religious parties
have never had a vote bank worthy of any concern, with the
collective seats gained by them in the national assembly being no
more than ten, during any term. The composition of the MMA is
quite baffling in itself, in that Noorani was made its chief.
Noorani failed to win his own seat in the last general election
thus it may not make sense why he was made the head. It is
opinionated in political circles that he has been given the top
slot to attract the majority Sunni population as the other leaders
in the MMA belong to the minority ‘Diobandi’ or ‘Shia’
sects sect. With there being no chance of Noorani winning his own
seat, he will no longer be required by the MMA after the October
elections as the ‘Sunni vote’ would have already been cast in
favour of the MMA candidates. Well firstly, as Noorani is in his
late seventies and considered to be way past his best, there is no
guarantee that he will attract the so-called ‘Sunni vote’ and
neither do the Pakistani electorate vote on a religious basis.
Although religious parties have never been successful in past
elections, due to the intense anti-American feeling in the country
the MMA can win the hearts of the Pakistani people due its anti
American stance. Whether the Pakistani people will trust religious
parties and see the MMA as a viable alternative to pro-American
Musharaf is a different story.
The second supposed alliance is between the PPP, PML(N) and PAT as
reported in sections of the press. Although the three parties have
not seen eye to eye in the past, they all have a common agenda of
stopping Musharaf from implementing a presidential dictatorship.
They have also realised that this can only be achieved if big
parties with public support like them selves get together. The
reason being that the might of a military government cannot be
defeated by any single political party. If such an alliance was to
materialise then it would be certain of success as the main
opponent, being the PML(Q), is pro-government limiting its chances
of success in a fair election. Well it will depend upon whether
the three parties can really accommodate each others wishes and
form an alliance as it would be one of history’s most unexpected
election alliance. Yet it seems understandable that only such a
powerful election alliance would be able to stop Musharaf from
becoming supreme ruler.
These are only two of the election alliance theories prevalent in
political circles. Which ever of them will materialise one thing
is clear that the tide has certainly turned against Musharaf.
Musharaf’s days in office are certainly numbered, as all
political parties have failed to stand behind him. If he manages
to keep his government in tact until the October polls, it will be
an achievement.
This
article published in;
Local Media
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The tide has turned