Opinion and analysis: ‘PML-N should not construe parliamentary backing as a carte blanche’

LAHORE:

Political analyst Hasan Askari Rizvi said on Thursday Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government should not construe the backing it received in the parliament as a carte blanche.

Speaking exclusively to The Express Tribune, Rizvi said the government had alienated the people. He said its leaders should analyse why this had happened merely a year after it had secured an emphatic mandate in the general elections.

Rizvi said the government should change its economic and political priorities, bring more experts into the federal cabinet and address the challenges confronting the nation.

He said the government should also mend fences with the military. Rizvi said efforts to topple the government were futile. However, he said the government had testing times ahead.

Rizvi said the government should undertake electoral reforms and hold elections in 2015. He said it would be impossible for the PML-N to complete their tenure on the basis of winning the last elections. Rizvi said Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan should learn organisational discipline from Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Tahirul Qadri. He said Khan should observe political developments more astutely and listen to his advisers.

Rizvi said Qadri should pursue the June 17 Model Town violence case. He said Qadri should not rely on his traditional supporters only. Rizvi said the current political impasse could have been averted if the government had given in to Khan and Qadri’s demands at an early stage. In the future, he said Khan and Qadri do not need to go to Islamabad in the future to stage protest demonstrations and sit-ins.

He said the federal and provincial government’s decisions were arrived at the behest of a small coterie oblivious to ground realities in Pakistan. He said the government’s inept handling of the Model Town incident and its failure to act in accordance with the law had greatly eroded its popularity. He said comparing protest movements in Pakistan and the United Kingdom was futile.

Rizvi said the government had ended up alienating the public due to three chief reasons. One, it had focussed its energies on ostentatious projects like the Metro Bus Project with scant regard for more pressing challenges confronting the citizens. Two, it had failed to address the social and economic problems of the people. Three, its style of governance was idiosyncratic, relying largely on the support of a traditional coterie rather than relevant experts.

He said even PML-N lawmakers had limited access to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. Rizvi said the government had continuously disregarded the parliament and the opposition.

He said the PTI and the PAT were also to blame for the stalemate. He said they had inflated assessments of public support. Rizvi said Qadri and Khan had articulated public sentiments but their movement had lacked parliamentary support. He said they were unable to understand the dynamics determining the decisions of other opposition parties and through their antics had fuelled their insecurities.

Rizvi said Qadri nursed political aspirations hoping to utilise utilising his religious following. He said Qadri’s demands were congruent with the aspirations of the middle class. He said Qadri had a greater chance than Khan of making a mark as his religious appeal was complemented by incisive analysis.

Rizvi said the army’s public image had gotten a drumming in the stalemate as its role and objectives were unclear.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2014.