Opinion Frenemies forever

As the PPP-led government faces open mutiny,will Nawaz Sharif end up bolstering Zardari?

Murtaza Razvi

December 23, 2010 03:18 AM IST First published on: Dec 23, 2010 at 03:18 AM IST

In Pakistan,there is an ever-growing obsession with self-righteousness,and hypocrisy in equal measure. The way politicians like Nawaz Sharif conduct themselves epitomise exactly that. Zardari is unacceptable because he is morally and financially corrupt; the army,of course,is neither,but it had better pay attention to its professional duties rather than meddle in politics. Having made these observations,Sharif then finds himself stuck with Zardari,because ousting him from the office even through constitutional means would be inviting what Sharif truly considers the bigger evil without saying as much,one that had him by the neck only 11 years ago. On their part,the generals reciprocate the sentiment,considering,like the UAE rulers,Sharif more dangerous than Zardari because the latter is more popular than the former. So the khakis are also stuck with Zardari for now,unless he shoots himself in the foot - which he is quite capable of doing.

While Sharif plays footsie by now criticising Zardari for his total lack of governance and rampant corruption,he is not willing to bring down the Peoples Party government by backing smaller,disgruntled coalition partners like Maulana Fazlur Rahmans rightist JUI or the ethnocentric MQM,whose leader Altaf Hussain keeps calling for a French Revolution in the Islamic republic from his hideout in London. The Maulanas party got the better of his characteristic ambiguity on sharing power last week when the partys central executive committee succeeded in convincing him to pull out of government after one of the JUI ministers at the centre was sacked.

The JUI minister was the whistleblower in what has come to be known as the Haj scam,where he outed a Zardari-backed minister,belonging to a rival sect,for having made millions by ripping off pilgrims to Saudi Arabia this past Haj season. The prime minister,under pressure from a Supreme Court investigation into the scam,was forced to fire the Zardari crony despite Zardaris defence of his minister; but in doing so,the PM also fired the whistleblower,landing his government with its thin majority into potentially bigger trouble. The Maulana has since been upping the ante by coveting the other rightist parties sitting on the opposition benches in Islamabad,and wooing the Muslim League-Q in Balochistan,with which it wants to join hands to do the very doable there: overthrow the PPP-led coalition government in that province.

The MQMs grouse against the PPP-led government in its home province,Sindh,on the other hand,has been a constant strain on the Zardari presidency. The MQM-PPP tussle in Karachi is a long-drawn battle over the spoils,and involving endless turf wars which often result in targeted killings between rival gangs that the two ruling coalitions back. The MQM has opposed tooth and nail the governments proposed tax reforms which call for imposing a value added tax under pressure from the international lending institutions,refusing to vote alongside the PPP as the bill is moved in parliament for debate. The affront,as it were,led the Sindh home minister,another of Zardaris trusted friends,Zulfiqar Mirza,into leveling serious allegations against the MQM last week,calling it a party that uses violence,extortion and kidnappings as a means to achieve its political goals. The MQM has given Zardari until January 15 to sort out this minister or else,it says,it will part ways with the government,possibly heralding its collapse.

The PPP now has two choices: win back the MQM and the JUI or look for a new coalition partner,that is,the PML-Q led by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain,failing which Zardari will have to mend fences with Nawaz Sharif to keep his government afloat. While there is hectic political activity all around to forge new anti- and pro-PPP alliances,Sharif has chosen not to jump into the fray just yet,inviting jeers from all corners that at the end of the day,he would save the PPP from its imminent fall.

And that may well turn out to be the case. As the head of the second largest party in parliament and one that still cannot hope to win a nod of approval by the generals if the PPP-led government falls,does Sharif have much choice? On the contrary,helping to keep the PPP in power until the next election in 2013,he can hope to capitalise on Zardari & Co.s rising unpopularity. The time gained between now and then and the end of General Kayanis term as the army chief that same year must also give Sharif some hope of mending fences with the military,which continues to pull the strings on internal and external policy,even as genuinely elected governments may come and go.

The writer is an editor with Dawn,Karachi