Opinion Hurling muck

This war of words between PML-N and MQM took a sharp turn when their leaders resorted to unparliamentary language and personal attacks,right outside parliament. PML-N stalwart and opposition leader in the National Assembly,Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan made some objectionable remarks against MQM chief Altaf Hussain,who had challenged PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif to a live debate on national issues. Khan also said Hussain had been living in the UK for 19 years after taking an oath of allegiance to the Queen and did not come home even when Pakistan was lurching from one disaster to another. Another PML-N leader,Khawaja Asif,according to The News on December 29,“accepted the challenge of an open debate from anywhere in the country,and asked Altaf as to when he was returning home for the purpose.” Taking a dig at the MQM chief,Asif also offered to arrange for a Pakistani visa for him since he was a British citizen now. He added that the MQM was the only political party headed by a foreign national. Hussain reportedly announced his intention to get even with PML-N by targeting them in Punjab.

Unsteady government

The grapevine in Pakistan has been predicting the fall of the PPP-led government for many months now. The future of the government remains in a state of flux.

Daily Times reported on December 27: “Sindh Interior Minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza said the MQM has joined the government on its own free will and there was no compulsion for any political party to join or quit the government.” On December 28,The News reported: “The MQM decided… to part ways with the federal cabinet… The party will take a decision about its future coalition with the PPP in the Sindh government soon.” Daily Times quoted President Asif Zardari on Benazir Bhutto’s third death anniversary: “Today,I declare this from Garhi Khuda Bukhsh that your government will complete its five years.”

On December 29,Daily Times reported that the MQM issued a “final warning” to the PPP: “If the government does not change its attitude for the better,then we will sit on the opposition benches.” Zardari deputed interior minister Rehman Malik for brokering peace between the PPP and the MQM. After making a quick trip to MQM headquarters in Karachi,Malik told reporters that “no one can drive a wedge between PPP and the MQM,” and that “those who wanted a fight between PPP and MQM will be disappointed.”

PM under attack

An irked Maulana Fazlur Rehman,the chief of JUI-F,has demanded that President Zardari remove Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani. Dawn quoted him on December 28: “The PM should resign and the PPP should appoint a new one… He has sabotaged the process of reconciliation among coalition partners and his actions have caused political instability in the country.”

A cry for answers

On Benazir Bhutto’s third death anniversary,PPP workers reportedly questioned their own government for not finding her assassins yet. Dawn reported on December 28 that at a rally organised at Rawalpindi’s Liaqat Bagh (the site of Benazir’s assassination),the traditional “Jiye Bhutto” slogans were met with “Benazir hum sharminda hain,tere qatil zinda hain”(Benazir,we are ashamed that your assassins are still alive).When top PPP leaders entered the family graveyard of Garhi Khuda Bakhsh at Naudero,the Bhutto family’s ancestral village,emotionally charged workers and people repeated this slogan.