An important meeting

The opposition wants its input in governance and legislation, but not at the cost of destablising the current set-up.

If there were a manifestation of just how far democracy has matured in Pakistan, the meeting on April 16 between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and former president Asif Ali Zardari would be it. There are varying reports of what exactly was discussed in the meeting and what the greater purpose, if any, was. Did the heads of the two largest parties meet to put up a joint front in support of the continuation of Pakistan’s third wave of democracy, which many perceive as being under threat? Or was it just a routine meeting planned weeks in advance to discuss micro issues — such as the contentious legislation that is the Protection of Pakistan Ordinance? The real question is whether it matters what they discussed; and the short answer is, no it does not.



One must view the meeting between Mr Sharif and Mr Zardari in context of the record of political parties in the past periods of democracy — most notably the second wave, which lasted 11 tumultuous years. Four elected governments were dismissed before completing their tenures, and in all four instances the opposition had a role in, and supported, the dismissals. In 1990, the Nawaz-led Islami Janhoori Ittehad (IJI) was the direct beneficiary of a dismissed PPP government, and even drew support from non-democratic forces in the country to win the subsequent polls. And on the day of the military coup in 1999, PPP leaders and activists famously distributed sweets in celebration of Nawaz’s ouster. Basically, oppositions have historically given credibility to non-democratic actions for the sake of petty political rivalries. And who can forget what the Pakistan National Alliance’s protests in 1977 led to?

Now, one can rightly argue that it would be hyperbole to equate the current friction between the army and the civilian government to democracy being under threat once again — but that doesn’t lessen the value of the Zardari-Nawaz meeting. Keep in mind that, in the 90s, opposition agitations played a part in clogging up the system and destabilising the government of the day — blowing a lot of issues out of proportion, and taking all opportunities to undermine the incumbents through exaggerated protests in and outside the assemblies on the smallest of matters. Given this background, even if the Wednesday’s meeting was simply about issues such as the PPO, the Karachi operation etc, the message is clear: the opposition wants its input in governance and legislation, but within the confines of democratic tradition and not at the cost of destablising the current set-up through political shenanigans.

The meeting will do much to mitigate any sort of pressure that is on the current government because it shows that other political forces will no longer play the role of legitimiser and the government no longer has to look over its back to fellow democrats wielding knives. The government, in turn, has shown that it is willing to work with the opposition — something that was on display a few weeks ago too when the prime minister himself travelled to political rival Imran Khan’s house to discuss matters, including the contentious dialogue with militants. The roles of the PPP and the PML-N were reversed in the last government, and Nawaz and his party never pushed the PPP to the brink, despite having many opportunities. Like the PPP today, they were criticised of being a ‘soft opposition’ — and indeed many will say that an accommodating opposition is against the principles of a healthy democracy. Yet, such an idealistic argument would ignore the ground realities that have haunted Pakistan for six decades.

Let us also not forget that much of what we are seeing today is the result of years of hard work — most notably of the 2006 Charter of Democracy that was the brainchild of the late Benazir Bhutto and amply supported by Nawaz. Pakistan was under military dictatorship at that time, and the spirit of that charter has seen democracy return to Pakistan as well as through the first transfer of power from one democratically-elected civilian government to another. It is heartening to see that the spirit is still alive and well. So much is possible if the political leaders of this country work together.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th, 2014.

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