Daily Times

True, neither is politics pure ethics, nor are politicians stony ideologues wedded to altruism and social good. Our politics has rather acquired a range of multifaceted masks used by various cults to perform the rites of worship to the goddesses of wealth and power. There exist no boundaries between the right and the left or the good and the bad. All that dominates the political horizon is either a make-believe grandstanding and high-sounding gibberish, or an inescapable readiness to indulge in venality, expediency and compromise. Therefore, one has to be an incorrigible optimist to doggedly believe in the faint dots of hope that glimmer across the morbid haze enveloping our individual and collective life.

Paradoxically though, the dots of hope are emanating from the same sources which are also considered to be, inter alia, the primal cause of the morbid haze: the PPP and PML-N. Represented respectively by President Zardari and Nawaz Sharif, these political parties are antithetical and yet indispensable to each other, correct on one count and yet criminally fallacious on another, and engaged in a part opportunistic and part principled politics.

As a result of this ‘chameleon’ politics, the country is moving one step forward and two steps backward. National consensus on such existential issues as meaningful fiscal reforms, national security and civil-military relations remains unfulfilled as ever. And, more worryingly, the horrid fear of the return of the vendetta and venomous politics of the 1990s is now again stalking our collective consciousness, given the sudden rise in the acrimony and brashness between the two parties.

Therefore, it is time the politics of these two parties is reviewed to trace the dots of hope from the morbid haze. In this piece I focus on the PML-N.

It is good news that Nawaz Sharif has stuck to his guns: no political role for the armed forces. He is against the generals’ meddling in governmental affairs. He wants the elected leadership to be the architects of national policies. Behind his bitterness lie the two dismissals of his elected governments by the military generals, and also the fact that he continues to be looked at with suspicion by GHQ. But there is also a fundamental truth to his stance: no modern state can survive with peace and prosperity, let alone win over the respect and confidence of its citizens and international community, unless its institutions are democratically organised, embedded in the rule of law, and geared to deliver social and economic justice.

Of course, the rightwing and praetorian apologists are presenting his democratic purity as a threat to national security, which they perceive is ensured when the armed forces are treated as a sacred cow and above board. No wonder, Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Chaudhry Shujaat are against the formation of the Abbottabad Commission, considering it to be against national security. However, this argument negates the very genesis and rationale of a modern state: states represent the collective ‘will’ and ‘interests’ of citizens, not their institutions, no matter how sacredly cherished. Therefore, modern democracies have increasingly slimmer and smarter but far more lethal militaries which, being answerable to government, remain in the process of combat and organisational improvement.

Another dot of hope is Nawaz Sharif’s abiding adherence to normalising relations with India, and that at a time when our collective rational faculties are increasingly strained by the ongoing gales of anti-US and anti-India sentiments triggered by the recurrent security lapses, external transgressions, and worsening economic situation. Therefore, it is commendable and courageous. And, thank God, the talks between the two countries are also apace, for all the rough edges and potholes created by the jingoistic and fractious minds. If the talks stay on course, the resulting peace dividends would prove enormously helpful for us and the region to fight the colossal dearth, degradation and violence that pervades this region.

Finally, unlike Imran Khan, Nawaz Sharif is credited with keeping alive this topsy-turvy democracy. He is not demanding snap elections because he understands that would require unconstitutional measures, unless of course the present government loses its majority in the National Assembly and no other party is able to gather the required number. But that does not mean he is playing footsie with the Zardari government, as claimed by Imran Khan. It is rather the need of today’s politics. He is wary of the traps that lie in facing a phalanx of political forces arrayed against him, including the redoubtable establishment. And that is the beauty of democracy: it is logical as well as utilitarian. Logic demands stark realism and an eye to seek the best out of the worst situation.

But the PML-N also has its share of adding to the morbid haze.

The PML-N does not fully own up to the war on terror. Nawaz Sharif condemns terrorism but falls short of fighting terrorist outfits. Indeed, his brother, the chief minister of the country’s largest province, is pedalling a provincial approach to tackle this nationwide and global terrorism. Rather than embracing the government’s fight against terrorism, he is struggling to keep it off his domain. The PML-N’s policy on the US is at best ambivalent, if not duplicitous. Publicly, it condemns the US policies, but privately, as shown by WikiLeaks, it encourages US engagement.

One cannot say it is the fear factor or the ideological affinity that drives the PML-N away from owning up to the war on terror. But President Zardari thinks it is the ideological affinity, hence the epithet ‘Maulvi’ Nawaz Sharif.

Moreover, the PML-N preaches democratic Puritanism but practices socio-religio-conservatism, which, in our context, has been quintessentially anti-democratic. Its abortive putsch for a shariah-based rule in its last government has not gone down well. Therefore, it stands isolated from liberals and conservatives, if not to mention the establishment. The US is also counting on the Zardari government for the same reason. PML-N’s close proximity with the Saudi royalty is also turning out to be a liability, given the dubious role of the latter in fomenting sectarianism in this region. No wonder, the younger Sharif has had to make nocturnal visits to GHQ to break out of isolation.

Finally, rhetoric against corruption and bad governance aside, PML-N has yet to bring up a workable economic policy alternative. In fact, it remains rabidly obstructionist to reforming the tax system. Its political showcase, the Punjab government, is in a financial mess, with its much-trumpeted multi-billion-rupee Sasti Roti (cheap bread) Scheme becoming a damp squib in poverty alleviation. Law and order is far from satisfactory. More appallingly, the anti-Lahore sentiments are building up in southern Punjab due to the lacklustre performance of Shahbaz Sharif.

It is time the PML-N came clear and upfront. Its uncanny cocktail of democracy and socio-religio-conservatism would only add to the morbid haze.

The writer is a lawyer and academic. He can be reached at shahabusto@hotmail.com