Daily Times

After what seemed like a neverending detour to the uncertain lands, sanity appears to have finally returned to Pakistani politics. A surprising collusion among the two mainstream parties five minutes before midnight saw the bigwigs gathered at Zardari House in Islamabad where a power-sharing formula was announced.

Claiming the two parties could now eye a comfortable majority in the lower house, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari announced his party’s support for PML(N) President Shehbaz Sharif for the post of prime minister. With PPP’s Asif Ali Zardari being slated as the country’s president and an unofficial agreement over other key slots, it appears that the parties are well geared towards entering the building of the National Assembly on February 29, having done the required homework to form a government in their name. Politicking aside, both Mr Bhutto-Zardari and Mr Sharf deserve brownie points for detracting from the usual politics of hatred and literally inviting the Sunni Ittehad Council to aim for the magic number and let PTI-backed independent candidates vie for the prime ministerial position. This concoction of healthy competition and collaboration along the party lines is what helps parliamentary democracies function.

The zero-sum games where politicians shamelessly toot the horn of “my way or the highway” have only served to exacerbate the political turmoil. Of course, nothing is ever certain in politics and therefore, pundits have already gotten down to the task of speculating the duration of this marriage. PDM 2.0, to borrow words from the social media warriors, is even more fragile than its earlier trailer. Because the PPP does not seem interested in any cabinet positions, there’s no telling what difference of opinion would push into the arms of opposition to bring about a vote of no-confidence against the premier. A patchwork arrangement needs a steady hand to ensure it resists the temptation to part ways and search for greener pastures. At the end of the day, PML(N), even if it claims to have won the round, stands to lose the most. *