There is no major sign of a resolution of the political impasse in Pakistan rather the crisis has taken a new turn. The army has descended on the scene as the go-between for mediating a settlement of the dispute between the government and the opposition duo led by Imran Khan and Tahir-ul Qadri.
It is a fast-developing situation where anything can emerge as a face-saving formula for the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is battling the opposition march on the capital for his resignation.
Imran has fired the first salvo, demanding that the government must quit and facilitate new elections in the country. He cites "massive rigging" as the reason for asking the resignation of the Nawaz Sharif government although he took part in the polls in May last year and did not raise any vociferous demand for annulling the polls except for saying that the balloting was not fair.
His party won 34 seats, coming third after the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). But all his party members have resigned en masse as part of the current anti-government agitation.
Qadri, the Canada-based religious leader, has no seat in parliament, but is known to have a sizeable number of followers.
The supporters of the two leaders have been squatting in the capital, Islamabad, for a pretty long time now, insisting that they would not leave unless the demand for government's resignation was accepted.
Interestingly, the main opposition party in the present parliament - PPP -- has distanced itself from the move for ouster of the Nawaz government. On the contrary, its leader, Asif Ali Zardari, recently met the prime minister and said he found no reason for the government to quit.
The support of Zardari, a former president of the country, came as a shot in the arm of the beleaguered government. But it appears that there is no slackening in the position of the protestors demanding that the government quit.
The agitation is largely confined to the capital city, Islamabad, and Lahore, the heart of the biggest Punjab province, with no much impact elsewhere in Pakistan. Nevertheless, the authorities seem to be grappling with the crisis.
Talks between the two sides have produced nothing tangible. Two opposition leaders are carrying out broadly identical parallel anti-government programmes even though they have different agenda.
It is somewhat intriguing that the authorities have not tried to break up the sit-in demonstrations near the parliament in Islamabad. Both Imran and Qadri have dared the government for any action against them.
Qadri is also demanding punishment of Prime Minister Sharif and several other key persons for the killing of his ten supporters earlier in Lahore during the anti-government programme.
It is believed that both the politicians might have received some "green signal" from some quarters in the launch of the present agitation.
Army chief general Raheel Sharif has met the prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, in the midst of the deepening crisis in a country which has seen several army takeovers in its history since independence in 1947.
Nawaz Sharif's ties with the military have been quite testy in the past and he was overthrown in a bloodless coup in 1999. He returned to power in last year's elections after traversing a difficult political landscape.
It is against this background that the army has offered to take on the role of mediator between the two warring sides of the political divide.
It is speculated that this time, too, Nawaz might have earned the wrath of the army for two reasons. First, government's overtures in improving ties with arch-rival India, a factor that was largely responsible for the coup against him earlier. Secondly, the army is believed to be not happy with government attitude to former military dictator general (retd for) Pervez Musharraf, who had led the coup against Nawaz Sharif and remained at the helm for nine long years.
General Musharraf is now in custody on "treason" charges while the army is understood to be for his release and departure for abroad.
Whatever emerges in the Pakistan scenario in the coming hours and days, there is hardly any confusion that Nawaz Sharif's government has been considerably weakened and the army has become stronger in the affairs of the nation.
Since the army stands neutralised, it is logical to assume that Imran and Qadri have reasons to feel happy even if their demand is not met. The developments have come as a setback for the government, which reportedly accepted army's mediatory role willy-nilly.
Now, all eyes are fixed on what way Pakistan moves in the days to come while the government continues to reject the demand for resignation.
zaglulchowdhury
@yahoo.com
Pakistan political crisis: A new twist with army assuming mediator\\\'s role
Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury | Published: August 31, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00
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