EDITORIAL: Finally, after a lot of claims, counter-claims and much noise, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) launched its long-march on the capital from its base in Karachi last weekend. Now, if the combined opposition’s script is to be believed, parties that make up the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) have a march of their own planned for Pakistan Day, and the whole thing will culminate in a no-confidence vote in the National Assembly, which they’re pretty sure will send the PM packing.
But so far in all the criticism that the opposition has heaped upon the ruling party, primarily for its failure to control rising prices throughout its tenure, nobody has yet told the people how any of them would do things differently to make life more comfortable, and affordable, for the masses. It’s almost as if Imran Khan’s resignation alone will suffice to make the Consumer Price Index (CPI) reverse course; even Brent crude to start paring gains in the international market. Opposition parties could also have used this opportunity to remind everybody what they did better in the years that they were in power; so people would at least know what to expect for the trouble they are now required to take to back the opposition and topple the government.
Most likely, these marches have very little, if anything, to do with the no-confidence motion. That’s all about the kind of wheeling and dealing to lure away members of the ruling party, preferably its coalition partners, that typifies our political landscape. Long marches, on the other hand, are good for optics, and make for the perfect opportunity to mobilise the rank and file ahead of crunch-time elections. PPP would have noticed that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its allies in Sindh played the same trick, as the former was leaving for the capital, by taking out a rally from Ghotki to Karachi; which also attracted a fair number of participants. And now slugfests on TV programmes are about which party was able to make more people come out.
The opposition’s two-pronged approach, of the no-confidence motion as well as the long marches, prompted Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid to smell disagreement among its top decision-makers. Why would they need to go through the trouble to march all the way to Islamabad and sit there if they already have the numbers for the motion in the bag? The fate of coalition partners, who have no qualms about openly talking to those out for PTI’s head as the ruling party continues to claim their loyalty, will simply not become clear till the opposition finally puts its cards on the table and tables the motion in the house.
Lost in this circus, unfortunately, is the fate of the people that representative government constitutionally exists to serve. Now everybody’s anticipating the next breaking news, the next big wicket to fall, etc., and the entire political machinery’s time, resources and attention are consumed by this no-confidence motion. The PM made a bold, sudden move to lower petrol and electricity prices to win points with the people, but such things will surely run foul of the IMF (International Monetary Fund) programme, and the opposition will call it a desperate manoeuvre that betrays the realisation, perhaps even acceptance, of an early election; and everybody will have more talking points for the next few days.
The opposition seems to really believe that the game that will see the end of the PTI government is afoot at last. And in that quest they are making promises that touch people’s rawest nerves, without even hinting at how they will make anything that matters better at all. Most people they are taking along on their long marches wouldn’t have the faintest idea about how much money it must take to organise such things, and where that money must have come from. It can only be hoped that our dear leaders’ pursuit of democracy does not make a mockery of people’s lives and needs all over again. Just what kind of game is afoot, then, remains to be seen.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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