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Here they go again...
Whether the PPP denies initiative -Former Federal Minister for Information Senator Durrani has lit the political fuse using our ambiguous past constitutional history with a motion to revive the Bahawalpur province-or changes that position shortly, it is very clear that the President's club is solidly backing the move. There are obvious benefits to the PPP: the rival PML-N is cut down to size; another federating unit comes into the constitution where the PPP could lead; and most importantly, it frustrates all future electoral ambitions of the Sharif Brothers.
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) are once again at loggerheads. Intense political intrigue has set into motion clearly aimed at undermining the tenacious Sharif brothers hold on power in the largest province of Pakistan.
The Sharif Brothers have sprang back with vows to monitor government's budget spending and openly criticising the President for fomenting trouble in southern Punjab. Most commentators also see the bogey of water dispute between Punjab and Sindh as a move in the same political chess game that seem to announce round-II in our internal political strife since the success of the Long March earlier this year.
The omens portend political trouble ahead. And by the look of it, both sides are set to fight a tough battle. With the War on Terror making the backdrop, the independent judiciary notwithstanding, a constitutional change favouring the creation of a Seraiki or Bahawalpur province would cut the jurisdiction of PML-N power by the size of the new administrative unit. The PML-N is not angry and divided over the issue without cause. It has problems internally with leaders like Javed Hashmi favoring the move. There has been a lot of negative media coverage of the fact that the Sharifs have spent less than 6 per cent of the total development money south of Punjab. They have obviously preferred to lay it thick in northern districts where they need to counter the past influence of their rival Chaudhries of the PML-Q.
Whether the PPP denies initiative -Former Federal Minister for Information Senator Durrani has lit the political fuse using our ambiguous past constitutional history with a motion to revive the Bahawalpur province-or changes that position shortly, it is very clear that the President's club is solidly backing the move. There are obvious benefits to the PPP: the rival PML-N is cut down to size; another federating unit comes into the constitution where the PPP could lead; and most importantly, it frustrates all future electoral ambitions of the Sharif Brothers.
The controversy on Indus River System Authority (IRSA) Wednesday decision to reduce or shut down flows in the Taunsa-Panjnad canal was bound to raise an outcry in the Punjab Assembly. And it did, very predictably with the provincial irrigation minister threatening to resign if 'Punjab's water' is diverted to Sindh. This has been a problem that has always refused to go away. Water scarcity is a highly inflammable political commodity that no one wants to touch. The Prime Minister and the Irsa chairman have since clarified that the share of one province would on no account be given to another. However, the issue has brought the contention back on political agenda allowing it to seep into the recent moves for the new province. Another province can cushion these conflicts between Punjab and Sindh!
But besides all, the macro-level management no longer interests our main political parties for all this wrangling is only bound to cement the present imperfections forever! This is clear in the meeting of Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi with Minister for External Affairs of India SM Krishna in Italy on Friday underlining Pakistan's compulsions to continue into the dialogue process despite reservations on Indian highhanded diplomacy. The meeting in Trieste on the sidelines of the G8 Outreach Meeting on Afghanistan, took place in a cordial atmosphere. The Indians have also reciprocated the sentiment. The need for constructive engagement and sustained dialogue to address common challenges and to resolve the outstanding issues, irritants and disputes, including problems of water, menace of regional and global terrorism and the unresolved dispute of Jammu and Kashmir cannot be overstressed. However, it needs no illustration that this time around both India and Pakistan are not moving on their own accord.
The economy has set itself into the defined ruts of aid and available loans. The business is bound to adjust. People will get some relief with a lot of aid flowing in. A political strife in the middle of all this is as clever a ploy as ever designed by our seasoned politician-president. Let's hope it is not muddled worse than his not-so-long-ago failed efforts.
28/06/2009
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