Daily Times

Unnatural alliance of PDM will notch up nothing. Rather it will go down the pan sooner than later. As I have pointed out in the previous columns that these unnatural bedfellows will fall apart very soon, because each of them it meant only to feather his nest.

On one hand, they ask the establishment not to interfere in politics; on the other hand they say that they will not talk to the puppet government, but its patrons. If army is allegedly backing up PTI Government, they are heartbroken at the prospects of not having their back patted. Otherwise if they are nuts about democracy, they must exercise democratic norms. How can they give sermons about democracy when their own parties are run like dictatorship?

Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman whose ceaseless haranguing about constitution and democracy is a known feature of his speeches, has expelled some senior members of his party with a stroke of pen on mere difference of opinion. It means democracy is what they define. Difference of opinion has no place in their fenced-in democratic norms. While claiming to be a politician, the Maulana is dragging military leadership in politics. It is tantamount to anti-state drive because Indian media is highlighting his statements. Without any solid proof, to hold the establishment responsible for their defeat has become a malicious tactic of politicians.

PDM dropped a hint of resignations. PPP and PML N don’t favor this proposal, but having fewer numbers of seats in the assembly, Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman is bent on upsetting the apple cart. As I have already mentioned in these columns that Pakistani politics doesn’t have any tradition of resignations. No opposition party has ever resigned during the 70 years of political history of Pakistan, nor will it happen in the future. It is just a political ploy with no concrete follow-up.

Even today, PDM is trying to play resignation card to achieve its goal. Anyhow, the Senate elections are at hand and neither PPP nor PML N wants to leave the arena empty. PPP, in particular wants to contest them because they are in majority in Sindh and out of eleven seats of the Senate, and it is likely to win on seven. In this backdrop, PPP doesn’t want to resign and go home packing.

On the other hand, Maryam Nawaz and Nawaz Sharif group presses for resignations because they have made up their mind to mess up the whole matter, while Shahbaz Sharif and Hamza Shahbaz don’t support this idea. Their views run counter to those of PDM.

The failure of Lahore jalsa has made it clear that Maryam Nawaz is losing control on the party while Shahbaz Sharif group’s control on the party is yet intact. His eyes are on this game of chess from the custody of the NAB. The informed circles of PML N say that a majority of leagis, almost 60%, are against resignations. They vent their view openly in private discourse, saying that fifty to hundred million rupees are spent on the elections contested for a National or Provincial Assembly seat. If the party can bear these expenses, they are ready to resign. Otherwise, if they are pressed for resignations, the making of the forward block would be on the cards. At present, this dissention is promoted and led by Mian Jaleel Ahmed Sharaqpuri, the custodian of a shrine in Sharaqpur, and Molvi Ghiyas-ud-Din of Shakargarh. Many members of N League from the Punjab Assembly are calling on them on daily bases, assuring them of their cooperation in the wake of resignation.

If PML N leadership wants to avoid the disintegration of their party, they need to follow the line drawn by Mian Jaleel Ahmed Sharaqpuri because it is not the time of confrontation but of reconciliation. They must know that political demands are met only through political way. Moreover, the government has offered them to come on the dialogue table, as this untoward rumpus is undermining the economy of the country. Rallies and protests are disturbing public life.

PTI Government’s offer of dialogue is a laudable gesture to defuse this tension. Now it is up to the leadership of PPP and PML N to be out of the woods. They need to get out of toxic influence of the Maulana who, by creating mayhem and anarchy in the country, wants nothing but to demolish the government with one stroke as he has done with his senior party members. It is unacceptable for every patriotic Pakistani.

The martyrdom of soldiers in Baluchistan shows that forces hostile to country are on the offensive. PDM’s diatribe and targeting of army leadership is being exploited by foreign powers. PPP and PML N leadership needs to think over it. If they continue to play at the hands of the Maulana, it will only be a matter of time when they meet the same end faced by his party.