PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif has come out swinging against the government, advocating the formation of a grand opposition alliance to unseat the incumbents. And what is it that has persuaded the leader of the hitherto ‘friendly’ opposition to part ways irredeemably with the ruling PPP? Basically, Nawaz Sharif feels betrayed by the PPP leadership, in particular President Asif Ali Zardari, for a series of failures: not living up to its promises to him over the last three years of incumbency, no hope or relief to offer the suffering people of the country, no solution to the sufferings of Balochistan and, last but not least, and arguably the straw that broke the camel’s back, the alleged rigging in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) recent elections. Talking to journalists in Lahore, Nawaz Sharif recalled how he had signed the Charter of Democracy with the PPP, only to be disappointed at every step. After repeatedly experiencing the PPP’s broken promises, playing of tricks and failure to resolve any problems, the conclusion had become inescapable that there was now a need to forge a grand opposition alliance to get rid of the PPP-led government. This time round, Nawaz asserted, he would no longer be taken in by the oft-repeated PPP mantra of a policy of ‘reconciliation’. The government’s ill-conceived policies, Nawaz argued, were responsible for widespread poverty and unemployment, with some 70 percent of the people below the poverty line. He criticised the government for violating the spirit of the 18th Amendment by transferring the responsibilities of the devolved ministries to the provinces but holding on to their resources. He said it was a priority of the PML-N to provide relief and succour to Balochistan, whose people were being subjected to extreme repression, including extra-judicial killings and the government’s failure to provide justice for the murder of Nawab Akbar Bugti and hundreds of ‘missing’ Baloch nationalists. On the AJK elections, Nawaz asserted that brigades of rigging had been unleashed and government funds for people’s relief or flood rehabilitation had been diverted to winning the election by the PPP through fraud and manipulation. It may be recalled that the AJK elections have got bogged down in controversy, with the MQM parting ways with the ruling coalition over the issue and Sardar Attique’s defeated Muslim Conference (MC) demanding a fresh election under the supervision of the army. Although it is part of our political history that every election is inevitably followed by charges of rigging by the defeated parties, this time, whatever the weight of the accusations, it has produced a mini-crisis for the ruling coalition by losing the MQM, raising fears of a repeat of the MQM making trouble in the cities of Sindh while in the opposition. One manifestation of the ‘reconciliation’ mantra is the rumoured offer of the AJK presidency to Sardar Attique to keep him sweet and away from the emerging opposition alliance, while another is the efforts by President Zardari to woo the MQM chief Altaf Hussain on his current visit to London. While the first gambit’s fate is so far unknown, the second appears not to be succeeding in the face of what appears to be an irrevocable parting of the ways by the MQM finally. The cast of usual suspects for any opposition alliance seem therefore to include the PML-N, MQM, Jamaat-i-Islami, JUI-F (still in negotiation) and the splinter groups from mainstream parties such as the PML-Q’s breakaway Likeminded caucus. Of course there is still many a slip between the cup and the lip and it remains to be seen how far Nawaz Sharif’s desire to have a ‘grand’ opposition alliance with the rest of the parties estranged from or in fundamental conflict with the PPP can be realised. It must be remembered that the tendency of the PML-N since the 2008 elections to ‘go it alone’ and spare none of the now being wooed parties from strident criticism makes the task now harder. However, in politics generally, and in Pakistani politics in particular, there are no permanent friends or enemies; it all boils down to interests. If the opposition alliance becomes a reality, whatever its final composition, it can potentially give the government a tough time inside and outside parliament and make life difficult for it in the run up to the Senate elections next year and the general elections whenever they are held, but no later than 2013. Clearly, in the middle of grave challenges facing the country such as terrorism and the tanking economy, the political cleavage opening up promises a rough time ahead for all and sundry.*