Nawaz 038; Benazir

Nawaz Sharif8217;s statement that his PML-N would consider seat adjustments with Benazir Bhutto8217;s PPP for the January 8 elections...

Nawaz Sharif8217;s statement that his PML-N would consider seat adjustments with Benazir Bhutto8217;s PPP for the January 8 elections has opened up all kinds of possibilities. On Thursday he told journalists in Haripur that the two parties would assess if such an arrangement would benefit both parties Dawn, December 14. Though the two parties continue to attack each other politically, The Daily Times commented: 8220;The thought that the two primal enemies born out of the Zia-ul Haq interregnum in national politics are thinking of joining hands for their common good points to the growth of a new political culture in Pakistan.8221; In an editorial on Thursday, The News assessed the anti-Musharraf political challenge. Besides the PPP-PML-N cooperation, it noted: 8220;With almost all other members of the religious MMA also deciding to contest the elections, the odds against the pro-Musharraf alliance are rising. The two leaders who have opted to stay out of the race, Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Imran Khan, would also be playing the role of vote watchers and critical monitors of any alleged attempts to engineer the elections.8221;

Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz also petitioned the chief election commissioner to set aside the rejection of their nomination papers and permit them to contest the elections The News, December 13. And with emergency set to be rolled back today, on Friday Geo TV quoted sources to report: 8220;The government is preparing an ordinance to lift the ban on third-time premiership.8221; The Daily Times, December 14.

Ways to boycott

Aitzaz Ahsan, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association and PPP member of the last National Assembly, said on Wednesday that he would withdraw his nomination papers The Daily Times, December 13. Ahsan, who continues to be under house arrest, said he was doing so to express solidarity with the lawyers.

A day later, Bhutto said that the issue of reinstatement of judges who had refused to take oath under the Provisional Constitution Order 8212; a key demand of the lawyers 8212; should be left to the new Parliament Dawn, December 14. According to the report from Karachi, she said that it was a wrong perception that the pre-November 3 judiciary was independent. A state of emergency was proclaimed on November 3. In The Friday Times December 14-20, Khaled Ahmed assessed 8220;the failure of the politics of boycott8221;: 8220;Boycotting elections was in some ways like the 8216;scorched earth8217; tactic used in wars. It was an extreme measure because it is land which is under contention in war, and destroying the land means the enemy will gain nothing after making its 8216;conquest8217;. Once the land is of no use to the victor, defeat and victory become equal. But scorched earth tactic also describes the state of mind of the tactician. He knows he can8217;t win and has exhausted all other means of winning the war or avoiding it.8221; He contrasted the roles of the lawyers and the opposition: 8220;The lawyers8217; movement was based on a 8216;pure8217; idea of what is legal and illegal, on what is just and unjust under the Constitution. Movements based on pure ideas are needed by all societies as they establish the ground rules for social behaviour, but at the working level they will always owe their success and durability to realism. While the lawyers8217; movement gave the lead to the entire country in its criticism of the behaviour of the government, it is the political parties who had to give a practical shape to the 8216;legalism8217; on which the civil society8217;s attitude was based.8221;

Dearer wheat

Pakistan8217;s Federal Bureau of Statistics has estimated the overall food inflation at 14.5 per cent in October, up from 9.3 per cent in the corresponding period last year, pointed out Dawn in an editorial on December 12. It said that of particular concern is the unavailability of wheat flour in some parts of Sindh.In a related report the same day,

The Daily Times said that the Sindh cabinet wants the federal government to impose 100 per cent duty on wheat export to Afghanistan. At present, the duty is 35 per cent. In an editorial the next day, the newspaper cited President Pervez Musharraf8217;s statement this week that due to 8220;the lowest prices in the region8221; Pakistani wheat was being smuggled to neighbouring countries. He recommended increasing the support price of wheat to make it a more attractive crop for farmers, while subsidising flour through the country8217;s public distribution system.

Alphabet wars

Alliteration abounds in election manifestos. The PML-Q8217;s promised five D8217;s: 8220;democracy, development, devolution, diversity and defence.8221; Earlier the PPP8217;s manifesto promised five E8217;s: 8220;employment, education, energy, environment and equality.8221; The Daily Times, December 11.

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