Pakistan: Who is conspiring?

While PML-N President Mian Nawaz Sharif should realise that when he says that there is a conspiracy to delay the coming elections, he raises two questions. He made this pronouncement on Tuesday, while talking just prior to leaving Jeddah for home after performing Umra. The first question is: who he is referring to and why he does not say who exactly is conspiring. This question is particularly pertinent because Mian Nawaz is a former Prime Minister, not just chief of the largest opposition party, and thus should not fear any consequences, nor should he speak in riddles. Where the government, judiciary and armed forces officials have all continuously reiterated their commitment to doing their part to hold free and fair elections on time, there does not seem much room to see villains, where everyone is striving to achieve the same goal. He might be referring to Tahirul Qadri’s long march but that is over without the elections delayed. The forces suspected of wishing to put off elections and back Dr Qadri in the hope that he might provide the excuse to stage a putsch have not been identified and it seems that Mian Nawaz is not going to name anyone. However, when he said that delay in elections were not in the national interest, he showed that those forces would not find his party supporting them. It goes almost without saying that no putsch is possible without the support of at least some political forces. However, by saying what he did, and that too while abroad, he tacitly confirmed the warning by PPP Senator Raza Rabbani of the threat to the next election. Also, being abroad, he expressed support for the granting of the vote to overseas Pakistanis, blaming the government for avoiding this. He did not mention how the government had allowed this issue to become hopelessly confused with that of dual nationals being disqualified from assembly membership. It should not be forgotten that the overseas Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia are prevented from obtaining dual nationality by Saudi law and from voting in Pakistani elections by Pakistani law. However, it should not be forgotten that even residents of Pakistan will only vote if elections are held. For that, it is essential that Mian Nawaz and other politicians show the firmness of their commitment.