Snap polls demand

The opposition, in an attempt to make its presence felt, has once again demanded snap polls. The clarion call was an outcome of a meeting of the PDM which stands defunct since the PPP’s exit from the opposition alliance over a host of modus operandi differences. While listing out shortcomings of the government, the opposition was of the considerate view that the government should go packing. Once again, the homework seemed poor as Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif and PDM President Maulana Fazalur Rehman were polls apart as they failed to resonate a common wavelength. The only common denominator was grudge against the incumbent Prime Minister, and even the ruling party was spared from criticism.

In a mishap of sorts, the timing of demanding the government’s ouster coincided with a routine reshuffle in the army’s top brass. The general impression was that a section of the PML-N leadership, which purportedly had nursed perceptional differences with the outgoing spy chief, seemed emboldened over the change of command and thought that mounting pressure against the government will convey the hilarious hidden message. It didn’t work. The PML-N, as a party, was caught off the guard and the entire impression backfired. The establishment kept its cool, and the executive got a field day to ridicule the opposition’s hidden agenda. The presser from the government rightly said that calling snap polls is government’s prerogative, and advised the opposition to revisit its jingoism.

The opposition, especially the PML-N, has to realise that showing door to the government shouldn’t be its single point agenda. The opposition must have a shadow line of policy action, and form an opinion on government’s fallacies, and cash it with the electorate at the polls. Off and on demanding exit of government leads to credibility crisis. The biggest setback with the opposition is that the industrious PPP is off the PDM hook. This has cast a crisis of competence in its rank and file. The country cannot afford premature polls now and then. Political farsightedness demands that the sitting government should complete its tenure. The opposition is well advised to come up with its input on upcoming census and EVM introduction, in an earnest attempt to strengthen pluralist democratic culture and usher in stability.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 12^th, 2021.

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