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The inevitable happens in Pakistan

— Photo: AFP

Different direction: The former Pakistani Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif (left), with his party candidate for the presidential election Saeed uz Zaman Siddiqui (centre) in Islamabad on Monday.

ISLAMABAD: The inevitable has happened. With common enemy Pervez Musharraf no longer on the scene, it was only a matter of time before the Pakistan People’s Party and the Pakistan Muslim League (N) fell apart.

The only surprise is that it took as little as a week after the retired General Musharraf quit as President for their alliance in Pakistan’s ruling coalition to unravel. The PML(N) is blaming PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari’s refusal to restore the judges sacked by the former President when he imposed the 2007 emergency.

On Monday, at the press conference to announce his party’s exit from the alliance, PML(N) leader Nawaz Sharif dramatically displayed a two-page document with his signature and Mr. Zardari’s that said the judges would be restored “within a day” of the successful impeachment of General Musharraf or his resignation.

“But the judges were not restored on August 19. Instead, the presidential elections were announced [for September 6] and the PPP announced the candidature of Asif Ali Zardari in the election,” said Mr. Sharif, pointing out that this was a violation of another agreement between the two parties.

The PPP and PML(N) had agreed that a PPP candidate could become a President only if Parliament repealed General Musharraf’s infamous 17th amendment, that restored the President’s powers to dissolve Parliament and dismiss the government and introduced a two-term limit for a Prime Minister.

“We agreed that if the 17th amendment could not be repealed before the election, through consensus, we would a choose a candidate, a person who is non-partisan, well reputed, with good pro-democratic credentials,” said Mr. Sharif, reading out the relevant portion from the agreement.

“The ink has not yet dried on this document. Now,” the PML(N) leader said, referring to an interview by Mr Zardari to BBC, “he is saying that political agreements are not the Koran or the Hadith”.

Mr. Sharif said his party had tried its best to keep the coalition intact, despite Mr. Zardari repeatedly reneging on his promise to restore the judges, in the interests of democracy and giving the country a stable government.

The PML(N) leader has held out the assurance that his party will play the role of a “constructive opposition” that will not try to place hurdles in the path of the PPP government.

The PPP-led government is now dependent on a host of smaller allies within the coalition and outside — the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Awami National Party, Jamiat-e-Ulema Islami — for a simple majority in the National Assembly.

Several reasons have been given for the PPP leader’s reluctance to restore the judges.

When General Musharraf imposed the emergency, the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary had admitted several pleas against the validity of the National Reconciliation Ordinance, a law promulgated by General Musharraf after a deal between him and Benazir Bhutto to clear her and Mr. Zardari of corruption.

The NRO, which was passed in return for the PPP’s support to General Musharraf’s controversial October 2007 presidential election, paved the way for Benazir’s return to Pakistan later that month.

Pakistani media are also reporting that Mr. Zardari, backed by the Americans and the Saudis, wanted Mr. Sharif to agree to an iron-clad indemnity for General Musharraf upon his resignation, and made the restoration of the judges conditional on that.

But the PML(N) leader has taken a hard line on the issue against General Musharraf for the benefit of domestic audiences, and a softer line while talking to Western press, thus sending out confusing signals on his intentions.

Media speculation has it that these reasons were behind Mr. Zardari’s candidature in the presidential elections — as President he could ensure his predecessor got immunity; arguably, he would also enjoy presidential immunity thus safeguarding himself against any attempt to re-examine the NRO.

Defending itself against the “politics of principles and values” that Mr. Sharif has unleashed, the PPP hit back by saying the PML(N) leader had no right to talk about agreements as he had violated his own agreement with General Musharraf to return to Pakistan from exile.

Babar Awan, a senior leader of the PPP told Dawn News television that “in politics, you cannot afford to give a fatwa or judgment against each other” and that everything changes “according to convenience and circumstances”.

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