When the
mild-mannered turn aggressive
One knows that
something is terribly wrong when the mild-mannered turn aggressive. Something
of this nature appears to have overtaken Prime Minister (PM) Shahid Khaqan
Abbasi. Normally known to be a cool if not phlegmatic character, Abbasi seems
to have been so riled up by the goings on in the Senate elections that he has
let fly at the Senators elected allegedly through horse-trading and the Senate
Chairman and Deputy Chairman thereafter. The PM went so far as to label those
elected through such skullduggery as not fit to represent Pakistan. He added that
such elements who had brought disgrace to parliament should be sent packing. PM
Abbasi’s umbrage is understandable since the received wisdom before the
election on 52 seats of the Senate was that the ruling PML-N stood to gain a
majority in the upper house, based on the numbers in the provincial Assemblies
that constitute the electorate for Senate elections. This hope and expectation
of the PML-N started unravelling with the loss of its coalition government in
Balochistan on the eve of the Senate elections. That event proved the trigger
for the unexpected outcome of the upper house elections, with the opposition
PPP and PTI, particularly the former, emerging as the beneficiaries of the
‘turn’. A hue and cry from Nawaz Sharif and other PML-N worthies ensued, but
the PM had held his piece till recently. Now he has come out all guns blazing,
but perhaps he has not weighed the impact and consequences of his words. When
the chief executive of the country rubbishes the elections and the election of
the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the upper house in such strong language, he
delegitimises the Senate and its top office holders. This can have devastating destabilising
consequences in the run up to the general elections and after. Whatever one’s
misgivings about the sleight of hand that appears to have been at work in the
Senate elections, the PM’s rubbishing of the whole process would raise new
difficulties in the days ahead. One of those difficulties will manifest itself
when the treasury and opposition have to sit together to agree the name of the
caretaker PM to conduct the general elections under a neutral administration. With
the PPP’s newly appointed Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Sherry Rehman
and the PTI Senators getting ready to move a privilege motion in the Senate against
the PM if he does not apologise for his remarks, the stage seems set for
anything but a smooth process of agreeing on an interim government. Other
unforeseen consequences could include the whole democratic edifice being shaken
to its roots.
While it is
understandable that PM Abbasi and the PML-N are bitterly disappointed and angry
at the ‘sure fire’ upper house slipping from their grasp, and despite the
allegations of horse-trading as perhaps the only logical explanation for the
unexpected result, the PM and the PML-N have the most to lose in the event of
the gulf between the treasury and opposition widening to the point of
near-breakdown. All indicators point to the PML-N still being strongly placed
to come out a winner in the general elections, a prize far greater than the
loss of a majority in the Senate and the subsequent top slots of the upper house.
The last thing in favour of the PML-N at this point would be any disruption to
the smooth build up to the general elections, including the possible shadow now
cast over the government-opposition parleys on deciding on the interim
government. Angst and anger aside, PM Abbasi needs to take a deep breath,
swallow his and his party’s disappointment, and focus on the looming general
polls to vindicate what he claims is the people’s rejection of Senators and
their Chairman and Deputy Chairman’s elections through allegedly crooked means.
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