A tangled web

Pakistan, perhaps more than anything else, needs a long period of stability if it is to overcome its many problems. Without this, there can be no hope of an economic turnaround or of a reduction in the sense of unease that lurks everywhere and adds to the difficulties that confront us. But are we ever to achieve this stability? During eras of democracy, there is hope that stability will come, with the steady cycle of governance and election that marks nations where democracy is better established. But in Pakistan we see more and more political disquiet, making it difficult to assess the situation or predict what the future might bring.

Right now, we have before us a kind of slowly simmering stew made up of a multitude of ingredients. The PML-N remains on the warpath, allegations of various kinds fly about, the courts remain highly active and it is difficult to predict precisely what drama we may see unfold. The role of the MQM is far from clear, and it has still to say if it will continue the truce it announced with the government following the latest fracas generated by remarks from
the Sindh home minister. The response of Chaudhry Nisar Ali, whose opinion has reportedly been sought by the president on the reappointment of Justice Deedar Hussain Shah as NAB chairman, is also awaited. It is unclear what the PPP intends to do if the opposition leader rejects the choice, as he has in the past. The matter has already led to a violent strike in Sindh and the affair has yet to draw to a close.

Contacts between the PPP and the PML-Q, meanwhile, seem to have picked up pace. Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has met the president and assured him there will be no effort to destabilise the government. The ANP has distanced itself from the NAB chief issue but made more clear than before its frustration with continued militancy and the military efforts in this regard. How this stew will eventually shape up we do not know, but for now we seem to be moving into a period of more turmoil and more uncertainty. This is not a good omen at all.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14^th, 2011.