acknowledge failure, the three parties are resorting to play victim, and using the usual linguistic/provincial divide to distract voters and generate sympathy.
They are also blackmailing the state. A speech by the MQM chief last week went as far as warning that parties he did not name might be forced to demand ‘secession’ from the Pakistani state. Never mind that the law does not give any party the right to advocate or demand secession. In mature democracies this could amount to blackmailing the state. But in a soft country like ours, it will pass as normal politics.
Like the PPP, MQM and ANP, Imran Khan’s PTI also faced threats in Karachi last week. But instead of endangering the lives of supporters and citizens, the PTI chief decided to swallow his pride and cancel his election rally. The PTI didn’t come out crying conspiracy against it and it did not threaten secession.
The NRO coalition partners can also take similar measures to protect our citizens attending their rallies. This will not hurt their campaigning. They are not victims. They still have key allies in the caretaker governments, the police and the bureaucracy. They have billions of rupees in developmental funds that they siphoned off in the last hours of their government in March. And they have international support, as reports pour in of Washington lending them sympathy and, most importantly, support in indirect ways. In short, the playing field favours the NRO coalition even now, depriving other parties of equal opportunity.
It is also in bad taste to paint the entire Pakistani nation as extremists by repeatedly suggesting that the NRO coalition members are the only ‘moderates’ and ‘liberals’ in the country. Besides, it is an affront to liberalism to pretend that pro-Americanism means liberalism.
The PPP, the MQM and the ANP should stop trying to revive provincialism, should stop playing victim, and should accept their failures. Most importantly, this NRO coalition should start campaigning on real issues instead of promoting a conspiracy theory of exclusion.
Please grow up, so the Pakistani democracy can too.
Email: aqprojectpakistan21.org