Political chaos
There is no harm in the government and the opposition quarrelling on issues of national importance or public welfare if the ultimate objective is to reach a better decision. This is what we call healthy conflict — something that serves to strengthen the democratic process in a country. Unfortunately, this important ingredient — i.e. debate, discussion and deliberation — has been traditionally missing in our democratic system.
The current situation is perhaps at its historical worst where the government and the opposition are not even on speaking terms with each other. Recently, a key national discussion between the two sides on Gilgit-Baltistan did not have the Prime Minister in attendance, according to media reports. The acrimonious relationship between the incumbent rulers and opposition parties is all set to aggravate further — with the latter having united against the former under the umbrella of ‘Pakistan Democratic Movement’ with the sole purpose of dethroning them through street agitation. A couple of recent incidents have already enflamed the war of words between the two sides. They include the arrest of PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif by NAB for allegedly accumulating assets beyond means; PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and her sister Faryal Talpur, MNA, have been indicted in a corruption reference; and JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has been summoned also in an assets-beyond-means case.
Already there for at least two years, the political chaos in the country is now clearly growing — something that threatens government efforts on governance, economy, international diplomacy and internal and external security. There is a dire need to bring the political temperature down in the interest of the nation. The government and the opposition need to sit down for a dialogue and lend an ear to each other’s positions so as to agree on a working relationship to take the democratic process forward.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 30th, 2020.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.