The government's conduct of the last month's local bodies elections seems to have acted as the proverbial last straw on the camel's back for the Opposition parties which, for long, have been accusing the government of resorting to political engineering and sidelining genuine parties and their leaders.
Everybody who is somebody in the Opposition ranks attended the National Leaders Conference (NLC) in Islamabad on Sunday. A joint statement that emerged from the meeting expressed concern over what it termed "massively rigged and fraudulent local government polls."
It went on to aver that "after these polls, a reality has clearly come to the fore that there was no possibility of just, fair and impartial election under General Musharraf's dictatorship."
The NLC has made three main demands for the resolution of the situation: One, that General Musharraf, along with his entire team, should step down both as President and the COAS; second, that the 1973 Constitution be restored as it stood on 12th October 1999; and third, that an independent and autonomous Election Commission be set up in consultation with the Opposition parties.
The Conference threatened to launch a countrywide movement against General Musharraf if these demands are not met. In fact, as a first move, it has given a strike call for September 9. Already on the table is the option of resigning from the assemblies.
Of course, the Opposition parties, too, know that the first two demands are not going to be met. And if they go ahead with the threat to launch a movement, it may or may not develop into something big. They would like to test the waters first, and if things start happening their way that is when they would want to use the resignations option.
However, past experience based on the anti-government movements of 1968 and 1977 shows the outcome of such protest action may not turn out to be what the Opposition parties have bargained for. They seem to be cognisant of such an eventuality, though the joint statement also includes the assertion that "no other adventurer general will be accepted or allowed to impose himself on the country."
Still, the situation may not develop as they envision it. In any event, the economy having barely registered a turnaround, can ill afford another round of uncertainty and instability. Hopefully, things will not come to such a pass, and the government will ease off the pressures on the Opposition parties to avert a showdown.
The Opposition, in fact, has left a door open to reconciliation. Despite its complaints of pre-poll rigging it did participate in the elections. And even now, it has said that it would not leave the upcoming elections for Nazims uncontested. Which is a politically wise decision.
For, as the PPP learned to its detriment when it boycotted the assemblies' elections held under General Zia-ul-Haq's military rule, staying out of the fray meant giving a free hand to the other side as well as facing substantial desertions.
The boycott decision made it easier for the establishment to woo the party's members to its side with the lure of sharing the spoils of power.
Coming back to the present, the government must not push the Opposition parties to the wall, where they feel compelled to fight back with unpredictable consequences for the political process. The leader of the biggest party within the ruling coalition, Chaudhary Shujaat Hussain, has a special responsibility to try and save the situation.
In fact, soon after a heated controversy erupted over the local bodies election results, he had held a meeting with the ARD leader, Amin Fahim, and assured redressal of the Opposition grievances. But not much came out of those assurances. He must pay heed to the seriousness of the developing scenario and open up a reconciliation dialogue with the Opposition.
As leader of the main ruling party, he must not merely support the Opposition demand for an independent and autonomous Election Commission but also ensure that an independent and autonomous election commission is set up.
That is important not only to allay the NLC's apprehensions about future elections but as an essential requirement for free and fair elections.
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