Vice chairman of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and former President Asif Ali Zardari was among those who immediately greeted newly-elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) at the Parliament House yesterday following the latter’s election as prime minister for a second time. Victory in the election for premiership was perhaps one of the most important items of their joint agenda that the two parties and their leaderships have been vigorously pursuing since the February 8 general elections.
Their post-election alliance has already yielded to them dividends in the shape of governments in Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan. Their last agenda item is presidential election. Zardari sahib seems to be quite optimistic about his electoral prospects. And, his optimism is not misplaced at all owing to a variety of reasons, including their upper hand in all the provincial assemblies except KPK’s. There seems to be every likelihood that Zardari sahib will become President for a second time. Be that as it may, the question that needs a plausible answer is: Is the future of democracy in Pakistan now secure? In my view, there can be no easy answer to this profound question in view of the protracted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI’s) plight.
That this party and its leadership has been meted out an unjust and unfair treatment since the then opposition in the National Assembly led by Shehbaz Sharif tabled a no-confidence motion against prime minister Imran Khan in 2022 is a fact. However, the argument that PTI has itself contributed to its own ordeal makes a lot of sense. But the party now seems to have learnt a lot from the mistakes that it had made in the past. The way it has conducted itself in all the legislatures since the Feb 8 polls in a highly impressive manner says it all. In my view, the future of democracy can be linked to the existence or survival of this party than any other party’s or parties’, including PML-N and PPP.
Nasim Usman Hashemi (Karachi)
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024