An unlikely alliance?

The PML-N and MQM should remember that they need to play the role of a loyal opposition.

It seems only yesterday the MQM and PML-N were at each other’s throats, with leader of the opposition Chaudhry Nisar Khan calling the MQM a party of dacoits and insinuating that chief Altaf Hussain was not “in his senses” when he spoke. In return, MQM leader Haider Abbas Rizvi compared the leader of the opposition to a well-known British comic character and denounced the PML-N as a party that was the product of a military dictatorship. Ironically, then, it was Rizvi who announced that the two parties had decided to work together in joint opposition to the PPP in both the national and provincial assemblies. True, a day can be a long time in politics, but even by those lowly standards this alliance has come as a shocking turnaround.

This opposition coalition, it is safe to say, will be a temporary one. There is too much bad blood between the two parties for it not to resurface at some point in the future. It has a one-point agenda: To frustrate and make life as difficult as possible for the ruling coalition. The PML-N and MQM will make it harder for the PPP-led government to pass any coalition and any tough decisions that may need to be made, like removing subsidies or increasing the prices of petroleum products, will now be a political impossibility. But the ultimate opposition dream of toppling the government and having fresh elections is unlikely to pass. The PPP, thanks to its equally opportunistic alliance with the PML-Q, still commands a majority in parliament, and that majority will only increase when the PPP gets more Senate seats next year. The opposition will be an irritant rather than a genuine threat but one that could bring the nation’s business to a screeching halt.

The PML-N and MQM should also remember that, all talk of a grand alliance aside, they need to play the role of a loyal opposition. They should keep the example of the Pakistan National Alliance in mind when opposition parties banded together and took to the streets to remove Zulfikar Bhutto from power. They were able to achieve that aim but only by allowing the army to take over. The opposition needs to act responsibly so that such a situation does not arise again.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 8^th, 2011.