Facing issues head-on at Hazara University the other day, President Musharraf spoke with a heavy heart, putting in sharp relief the enormity of crises that his government is presently faced with. He was bitter that his action against Chief Justice Chaudhry had been hijacked by the opposition for political ends.
"They (opposition) are conspiring against me and want to incite people against me...That will be a day of grief for me if these lies and deception triumph over truth and reality...That will be a very sad day for Pakistan and the point where I will cry". President Pervez Musharraf was also upset over the opposition's attempt at exploiting the Karachi incident on ethnic grounds.
They "accused me of being behind all this as a Muhajir but I want to clarify that my caste and everything is Pakistan". Add to this his anxiety over the call for Jihad given by the Lal Masjid management, and one would understand how beleaguered and besieged the present government is.
Then there are reports of increasing tempo of in-fighting within the ruling coalition; extremism, and suicide bombings once again on the rise and our international partners getting nervous that the country is sliding into chaos. All this hardly fits into the definition of a performance record that should win an election for a sitting government.
But while there is loud crying on the part of the government about the opposition's incessant meddling in the affairs of state, very little is being done in terms of addressing these issues. Take for instance the case of Lal Masjid imbroglio, that has gone on and on for over four months now without the government making up its mind what to do about it. Of course, there are a number of theories about what is "behind" this situation, but an inescapable fall-out from this is the public impression that the government is confused and paralysed.
This inaction on the part of the government tends to breed uncertainty, which is more dangerous than a setback here or there that a government can always reason out. Freezing the parliament by abruptly proroguing the National Assembly and sending Senators on three-week compulsory recess is yet another case of government running away from facing the facts. It defies logic that the parliament, which is being kept alive on life support system so that it should be able to re-elect President Pervez Musharraf, should be deprived of its right to be the principal platform for national debate and consigned to limbo just because the kitchen cabinet - a portion of the 70-plus cabinet - is competent enough to defend the government policies.
The people are nervous, as tentativeness inherent in the situation is taking the toll in terms of deferments and cancellations of plans and programmes. Reports say that quite a few international conferences that were slated to be held in Karachi and elsewhere in Pakistan in coming months have been put off or cancelled.
One such casualty was the International Conference of Electronic Media which was to be held next month in Karachi. Exporters are fearing a loss of orders. Coupled with the rise in the oil bill, the trade gap in getting wider and wider. After all sheer political survival should not be the only objective before the President and his team. But if they feel really overwhelmed by the winds that have started blowing across the Pakistani landscape, then instead of procrastinating they should opt for early elections. If there is a provision for snap elections in our constitution it is for dealing with such situations making it possible for the incumbent government to return with a fresh mandate.
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