In New Delhi
A WEEK after Pervez Musharraf was forced to quit his presidency under threat of impeachment, the main coalition partners in the government have fallen out, plunging Pakistan into political uncertainty and raising the possibility of the army stepping in yet again to restore stability.
The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, walked out of the ruling coalition yesterday, accusing senior partner, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) of going back on commitments.
Mr Sharif said he was quitting the coalition because it had failed to restore judges fired by Mr Musharraf. The two parties also failed to arrive at a consensus on a common candidate to fill the post of president following Musharraf’s resignation.
The presidential election is scheduled for Sept 6 and the PPP has already announced that party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari will be its candidate.
Reflecting the irreconcilable differences between the two parties, Mr Sharif’s party has decided to field Mr Saeed-uz-zaman Siddiqui, a respected former chief justice against Mr Zardari.
PML(N)’s decision to pull out of the government does not pose any immediate threat to the survival of the government, which continues to have a majority in the National Assembly with the help of smaller parties.
But the credibility of the democratic parties in the country would surely take another beating and reinforce the public perception that they are only interested in power and not the nation’s well-being.
Mr Zardari is tainted by corruption charges and is referred to as “Mr 10 percent,” the bribe he allegedly demanded on all major government contracts while he was a minister in his assassinated wife, Benazir’ Bhutto’s government.
It is said that he opposed the restoration of the sacked judges because he was afraid that they would reopen the dozen plus corruption cases against him, dropped under a deal with Musharraf.
Unfortunately for Pakistan, the political turmoil comes at a time when the country faces multi-pronged challenges. Its economy is shaky and the Taleban militants, enthused by the resignation of the pro-US Musharraf, have stepped up bombings to further weaken the government.
It is a matter of time before the people once again look to the army to extricate the country from the rut, forget that it was only the other day that they were baying for the ouster of Musharraf, another army chief in Pakistan’s chequered history who usurped power in a coup nine years ago.
In fact, in his last address to the nation as president, Musharraf said he was quitting so that the army would not have to step in. “God forbid, the Army should not have to interfere. I would never want that,” he had said.