EDITORIAL: Reading tea-leaves of PMLN’s ouster

DAILY TIMES
The PMLN’s policy of not recognising the “PCO Supreme Court” anticipated its decision to reject the verdict the Supreme Court reached Wednesday to disqualify the Sharif brothers. The deposed chief justice, Mr Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, was able to say in Dera Ghazi Khan that “the Court forfeits its legitimacy by issuing verdicts that are against the Constitution”, clearly referring to the stance of the lawyers’ movement that the judiciary after November 2, 2009 was unconstitutional.Opinion in Punjab is overwhelmingly against the verdict. Apart from the loaded anti-PPP situation, there are steady signs of uncertainty within the ruling coalition. The ANP leader, Asfandyar Wali, is categorical in opposing the decision; the JUI’s Maulana Fazlur Rehman grieves over it but resorts to the ploy of bemoaning the two mainstream parties’ legacy of bickering and taking revenge against each other. The school of thought that focuses on the old pattern of rivalry is led by ex-PMLQ Sheikh Rashid Ahmed.There is quibbling over Governor’s Rule. Even professional opinion is divided. Some say that emergency was wrongly imposed. They say the Governor could not disallow the convening of the Punjab Assembly. Others disagree. The debate will go on. On the streets, the PMLN is rallying its supporters to stage demonstrations. Others like the Jama’at-e Islami are declaring how their cadres will swoop down on Islamabad from the various corners of the country. But all that is still a fortnight in the future.Meanwhile, the stock exchange in Karachi has plummeted, a reflex that routinely deprives a lot of people of their investments. Investors from the UK are cutting their losses and pulling out. The country is on the boil. The world outside sees it embarked on “a trajectory of failure”. The US says it can’t comment on Pakistan’s internal developments, but in Washington most people are scared of where the country might go from here. Al Qaeda has got the Taliban of all stripes to announce renunciation of war against the Pakistan Army in order to focus on the US and its two allies in the region, Hamid Karzai and Asif Zardari.This time around, the PMLN and the PPP have chosen to square off during a most dangerous regional and global moment. The economy is demanding solutions that the population of Pakistan is not happy with. Islamabad needs flexibility of response and pragmatism as never before, but the politicians are refusing to give each other any ground. The two parties are going for the kill. As in the past, they might both come a cropper. This time, however, there is real danger that the state they are trampling upon in the process may join the failed ranks of Somalia, Sudan, Congo and Zimbabwe.