Horse-trading and hypocrisy: Well done, Nawaz Sharif!

Sharif's earlier objection to floor-crossing politicians contradicts his recent move to save his brother's...

I strongly object to the use of the term horse-trading. A horse is a loyal animal but the term horse-trading is used for sell outs who betray their parties for temporary benefits.

Nawaz Sharif introduced the 14th Amendment to prevent floor crossing for political gain – a law which leads to the disqualification of a person who changes parties too frequently. A similar anti horse-trading clause was also introduced in the recently passed 18th Amendment.

Here’s a little recap of how this trade was practised:

After the 2008 elections, the PPP seized power in Balochistan contradictory to their ‘demoratic views’ and joined hands with defectors of PML-Q (whom Zardari referred to as Qatil league).

PML-Q was the biggest parliamentary group in Balochistan but decided to join the PPP. Those PML-Q defectors formed government in Balochistan and ended up with important portfolios in the cabinet.

The same phenomenon is now being adopted by Nawaz Sharif. He sings song of democracy, morality, and law over and over again but to save his own government in Punjab he too has started playing foul. He is now using defectors of the PML-Q to save his brother’s government.

Sharif has brought horses in Punjab just like Zardari did in Balochistan. With the recent move of giving a separate identity to these PML-Q defectors in the Punjab Assembly with the name unification bloc, he has exposed Pakistani politics as a farce.

The leader of the Unification Block in Punjab Atta Manika said that the 18th amendment’s floor crossing clause will come into effect after the next elections.

To him, I’d like to ask why the appointment of judges is taking place under the 18^th and 19th Amendment’s Judicial Commission.

The anti-constitutional route Sharif has taken to save his government in Punjab is not only condemnable but also raises questions about his credibility. He claims there are no charges of corruption against him and his brother – but is this horse-trading is not equivalent to corruption?

The biggest controversy surrounds those who willingly become horses and offer themselves for auction in the political circus of Pakistan. They should be barred from politics for life because there is simply no justification for such practices.

Coming back to linguistics, it would be better to use the word ‘donkey trading’ for such a practice and the defectors should be called donkeys, a much more suitable term for these shameless sellouts.