Coalition considerations
There must be some doubts if it is even possible to implement ambitious PML-N agenda within the 45-day period.
The issues inherent in running a coalition government are now surfacing. Days after the increase in petrol prices was withdrawn in order to pull the MQM back into the treasury, the prime minister has made a commitment to the PML-N that its demands will be met. The list presented by Nawaz Sharif included demands for a tightening up of the running of administration, a more ‘people friendly’ power and gas policy, action against corrupt officials and implementation of Supreme Court rulings, including those on the NRO. The key demand, a reversal in petroleum prices, has already been met.
Gilani’s announcement means the PML-N has agreed that the coalition government in Punjab will continue. Something, of course, has been gained by the government. But what has it lost? The concession to the PML-N makes the government look weaker, at a time when the PPP is anxious to win back allies. Whereas compromise is an inevitable part of running coalitions, it is also important that a government not be seen as giving in too easily. When this happens, it places the government in a position where it is vulnerable to blackmail and perpetual pressure from allies ready to take advantage of its situation to push forward with their own agenda. Succumbing to this will not help the PPP and will expose it of charges of failing to stand by principle.
There are other questions as well. There must be some doubts as to whether it is even possible to implement the ambitious PML-N agenda within the 45-day period laid down by the party. For now, time has been won. But the full implications of the decisions taken will emerge only in time. For any elected government, some degree of respect from the people is important. The manner in which demands made by other parties have been accepted raise questions as to whether retaining power at all costs is the paramount consideration of the prime minister or whether there is also some desire to stick to the party's own stance on various matters of significance.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 11th, 2011.
Gilani’s announcement means the PML-N has agreed that the coalition government in Punjab will continue. Something, of course, has been gained by the government. But what has it lost? The concession to the PML-N makes the government look weaker, at a time when the PPP is anxious to win back allies. Whereas compromise is an inevitable part of running coalitions, it is also important that a government not be seen as giving in too easily. When this happens, it places the government in a position where it is vulnerable to blackmail and perpetual pressure from allies ready to take advantage of its situation to push forward with their own agenda. Succumbing to this will not help the PPP and will expose it of charges of failing to stand by principle.
There are other questions as well. There must be some doubts as to whether it is even possible to implement the ambitious PML-N agenda within the 45-day period laid down by the party. For now, time has been won. But the full implications of the decisions taken will emerge only in time. For any elected government, some degree of respect from the people is important. The manner in which demands made by other parties have been accepted raise questions as to whether retaining power at all costs is the paramount consideration of the prime minister or whether there is also some desire to stick to the party's own stance on various matters of significance.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 11th, 2011.