Daily Times

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is set to say goodbye to its coalition partner in Punjab, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) by February 24, on the pretext that the federal government has failed to implement its 10-point agenda within the stipulated deadline. Initially, after the 2008 elections, the PML-N needed a coalition with the PPP because during the 10 years Nawaz Sharif was in exile, a majority of his party members joined forces with Musharraf and PML-N became a rump party. The rump was intact only in central Punjab; in Potohar, it was reduced to a pale shadow of itself and virtually disintegrated in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and southern Punjab. Hence the PML-N perforce had to rely on the PPP for a coalition, since it lacked a majority in the Punjab Assembly. However, now that PML-N has made sure that the PML-Q Unification Bloc is granted the status of a separate party, the opportunity for dumping the PPP has opened up. With this Bloc on its side, PML-N is confident that it can do without the PPP as a junior partner in Punjab. It seems that in the next election, the swing of 45 seats from PML-Q to PML-N in central Punjab in the 2008 elections may go further, with the present strength of the PML-Q reduced to only 33 seats in the provincial Assembly.

Moreover, it has been reported that Nawaz Sharif has been travelling around the country trying to reorganise his party and restore it to its former glory, in preparation for an electoral contest. PML-N has made it clear that it is not going to extend the deadline given to the federal government to implement its 10-point agenda. However, if these 10 points are observed closely, one may find that although some of the points are practical and can be met within the given timeline, some require years of meticulous planning and implementation. It seems the PML-N is trying to pile up the pressure of deadlines on the PPP and trying to bring about the fall of the PPP government at the Centre to trigger an early election. Regardless of the manoeuvring of the PML-N, the fact remains that the PPP has brought this disaster upon itself. It has repeatedly shot itself in the foot with its incompetence and chosen to ignore the consequences of its actions. From the present turn of events, it seems that if the PML-N is able to muster up the organisational strength for an electoral contest, an early election might well be called and the PPP may be hard put to it to defend its record in office since 2008. g