The National Assembly will meet from September 2 in a special session requisitioned by the PML (N) to bring under sharper focus the ruling coalition's perceived failure in squarely meeting the multifaceted challenge posed by the super flood.
But as our mercurial political culture would have it, the scenario has undergone a dramatic change in the meanwhile, and in what is nothing short of a paradoxical irony the proceedings are likely to be hijacked by a pair of conflicting breach of privilege motions, which would tend to force the PML (N) and the PPP-led government to come together against the ruling coalition's Achilles' heel, the MQM.
That the ruling coalition would welcome any diversion from public rebuke for its gross failure on the floods front, there is no question about it. But the PML (N) has its own agenda. That it would like to make a mountain out of a molehill by projecting Altaf Hussain's plea that somebody should come and save the people from the corrupt political leaders, who enjoy a kind of weird impunity from the laws of the land, as a threat to the democratic process in Pakistan, is indeed puzzling. The question is, did the MQM chief say something different from what we hear every day?
Change is indeed the buzzword and there should be no problem in a democratic ambience if people are talking about it. After all, every constitution provides for mid-term/snap elections. Why? If Altaf Hussain is calling the shots from London, what is the problem? Didn't Nelson Mandela run the African National Congress (ANC) from his prison cell, or Ayatullah Khomeni direct his movement from exile in France.
Given the fact that Nawaz Sharif's second government was overthrown by General Musharraf, his party's visceral aversion to a military take-over is understandable. But is there anything on the ground to suggest that the army is going to send packing the civilian setup. Or, is it the case of a guilty-conscience political leadership cooking itself in its own stew of consistent failures on all conceivable fronts?
Of course, we would hate to speculate beyond the reasonable parameters set for clean journalism - but the question is in order: Whether the PML (N) is thinking in terms of creating a breach of trust between the PPP and the MQM, so much so that the latter decides to quit the coalition and thus brings down the Gilani government?
The MQM has repeatedly disowned any motive to Altaf Hussain's address - which carried grossly misunderstood phrases like 'martial law-like measures' and 'patriotic generals' - other than beseeching the patriotic people of Pakistan to come forward and save the country from the clutches of corrupt feudals. Is it that since such elements abound in the PPP and PML (N) there is anger against Altaf Hussain?
Ideally, the parliament should have been in session throughout the floods - not to discuss the breach of privileges motions but to work out ways and means to help millions of countrymen facing the worst disaster of our history. The government's excuse that instead of sitting in Islamabad, the MPs are supposed to be in their constituencies to help people has been belied by the ground reality.
The fact is if at all any member has been reported from the field, he has been invariably depicted in a negative light; diverting waters to others' homes and fields or selectively distributing relief goods. Even Prime Minister Gilani has not desisted from misusing his position and power to garner political support for the PPP candidates in the by-elections. The fact is that as of today, there are no signs of heavy boots ascending the stairs and the rustle of satin slippers coming down. But should civilian outfits failures remain unchecked, it's not Altaf Hussain but many others who will call for help and seek deliverance from those who came through the elections but ruled like kings.