This is apropos a Business Recorder op-ed “An (in)credible election!” carried by the newspaper yesterday. That the headline of this write-up meticulously penned by noted political analyst Rashed Rahman says it all is a fact.
No doubt, his is a highly informed perspective on the situation. In my view, however, the country is nearing a severe political crisis, which may eventually manifest itself, among other things, in a new economic crisis and massive political unrest.
Nothing could be forecast about the severity or profundity of the crisis at this point in the time mainly because of the fact that there exists an agonizing political stalemate in the country while it is not known how and when this will be ultimately resolved to the satisfaction of the warring or competing political parties.
Insofar as country’s economy is concerned, neither the IMF nor the country itself has any solution to the present economic impasse, although the country has been receiving lending from the Fund under an SBA while the next IMF programme will be negotiated by the incoming government in coming weeks and months.
This situation gives birth to a question: how soon is the country going to have an elected government? Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, for example, is a politician who has publicly expressed his frustration over the evolving situation, describing it as a “stalemate” in the country.
In other words, he has indicated that the talks between his party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) over government formation have stalemated.
He’s spot on in view of the fact that various parties, including the newly-formed alliance comprising Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) and Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), are still struggling to form government.
Unfortunately, however, the caretakers have been trying to hoodwink people by insisting that there is no deadlock between political parties regarding talks on the formation of government. Be that as it may, pessimism is quite warranted.
Rashed Rahman, therefore, deserves a lot of praise for concluding his argument in a highly effective and meaningful manner. I couldn’t agree with him more, so to speak.
Malik Riaz Tiwana, (Islamabad)
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024