PML-N’s overtures to the MQM

At a time when Pakistan needs stability, trying to remove an elected government from power smacks of irresponsibility.

In an attempt to dislodge the PPP-led government, the PML-N has now been reduced to wooing the MQM, a party it bitterly detested just a few months ago. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Law Minister Rana Sanaullah happened to be in London when they extended the invitation to the MQM to join their proposed grand anti-government coalition. Although both sides have denied that Shahbaz Sharif will meet Altaf Hussain during his London trip, a secret meeting is surely not out of the question, especially given that Shahbaz chose to try and mend fences with the MQM as soon as he arrived in London. And with the JUI-F chief and anti-PPP (for now) Maulana Fazlur Rehman also arriving in London in a matter of days, it certainly does seem that the anti-PPP forces are gearing up for a movement to topple the government.

Such a movement, however, even if it manages to draw in the MQM, is destined to fail. For the opposition parties, the numbers simply do not add up. The PPP has the support of the ANP and now the PML-Q in parliament, and their votes together will be enough to defeat any no-confidence motion. Sure, the opposition could eschew parliamentary politics and fight their anti-government battle out in the streets but for this to be successful they would have to instigate so much violence and trouble that the PPP government would be left with no choice but to resign. The PML-N must avoid this option as it would benefit not them but the army. If there is too much political turmoil in Pakistan, the army may go from being the behind-the-scenes puppet-masters to taking a more overt role. That should be avoided at all costs.

The motley crew that is assembling in London should also consider if their alliance has any chance of success beyond even forcing the government out of power. Until very recently, the PML-N and MQM were at each other’s throats and their rhetoric against each other was bitter and personal. Such wounds do not heal overnight and even if they band together out of convenience, this is not a coalition that is going to last. At a time when Pakistan needs stability and good governance, trying to remove a duly-elected government from power smacks of irresponsibility.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 5^th, 2011.