Daily Times

One must admit that Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has a Houdini-like knack of extricating himself out of trouble. While firmly ensconced on his seat of power, he did not tire of enumerating his government’s achievements and rejecting charges of corruption. In the aftermath of coalition partners bidding farewell to the PPP, however, he had to eat humble pie and agree to not only address MQM’s concerns, but also the opposition PML-N’s charter of demands, which its chief Nawaz Sharif had offered as a condition for not destabilising the Centre and maintaining the coalition in Punjab intact. By implication, this means Gilani has accepted his government’s failure. However, we must welcome the fact that the government has finally agreed to put its house in order, even if on the opposition’s urging. One might have some disagreements on the suggested strategy, but largely Nawaz Sharif’s 10-point agenda constitutes the crux of Pakistan’s problems today. If the government did not feel compelled to move earlier, it is time for it to do so now.

Although the bulk of demands relate to the economy and would require long-term measures and a considerable gestation period before solutions emerge, issues such as reconstituting the election commission, cutting down government expenses and stemming corruption can be achieved quicker if the government has the political will. Stories of corruption of the current set-up have become legendary. This is not to suggest that the past regimes were any less corrupt. But after a long stint of military rule, people had great expectations from the current lot that they had elected through a relatively free and fair election. That the present government has not been able to improve the situation has engendered a deep sense of frustration among the public. They are finding it difficult to meet even their basic needs in the face of soaring prices of commodities, particularly food items. Bowing to PML-N’s pressure, the government has withdrawn the hike in POL prices, but this in itself will not solve the critical issues of economic management. Rather it will deprive the government of some much-needed revenue. Cutting down government’s expenses, however, is something doable and has only been paid lip service to so far. It must be said though that to expect the government to implement all the PML-N’s demands by February 20, to oversee which Nawaz Sharif has constituted a four-member committee, is not realistic. It would be in the interests of the country for both parties to arrive at some mutually agreed strategy to address the problems highlighted by Nawaz Sharif rather than using them for political point scoring.

In a press conference yesterday, Nawaz Sharif tried to negate the impression that he had given an ‘ultimatum’ to the PPP, implying that the PML-N had softened after the prime minister’s acceptance of their agenda. Having wooed back MQM, one must caution the prime minister against mollycoddling JUI-F. In his press conference on Monday, the prime minister said that the government did not intend to amend the blasphemy laws. The sequence of events following the assassination of governor Salmaan Taseer should be enough to awaken the government to the perils of appeasing the extremist religious lobby, which is incrementally encroaching upon the political space by dint of its street power. *