Elections and alliances

Elections bring together strange bedfellows, odd couples, bad breakups. We have entered that phase in our electoral journey now, with parties making, breaking and wishing alliances. In a new twist, now the PML-N and MQM-P have announced to contest the February 8 polls jointly. The PPP co-chair, Asif Ali Zardari, has “welcomed” this electoral alliance and said that his party will face political opponents in the elections. Political observers have pointed out that after the recent rifts between the PPP and the PML-N, it was all but inevitable that the PML-N would form an alliance with the MQM-P in Sindh. In fact, it is quite possible that the JUI-F and the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) may also form an electoral alliance with the PML-N and MQM-P in the next few weeks against the PPP in Sindh. While observers say that this alliance will not dent the PPP’s seats much in a province the party has ruled for the last 15 years, the ‘absence’ of the PTI will add some additional seats for the PML-N-led alliance as the MQM-P has more to gain due to the minus-PTI factor.

Some have taken this alliance to be a message that some powerful quarters have given a green signal to this alliance as a message of sorts to the PPP. After the May 9 incidents, the PPP was quick to recruit PTI members, particularly in southern Punjab, but soon its plans were thwarted when Jahangir Tareen launched his Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP). The PPP reportedly saw this move as being ‘cut to size’ by power-brokers. This is why the PML-N alliance with the MQM-P will also be seen in this context. But there are those who feel that it may also be the PML-N wanting to finally hold some sway in Sindh, where the party has hardly had any presence in the last two decades.

Sindh is not the only province seeing political back and forth. The Balochistan Awami party (BAP) has also elected its new president, a move that many see as a sign that it is here to stay for the time being – and may also be easily trotted out for ‘help’ in the centre whenever the need arises. As with all politics, Pakistan’s politics too has been a master of the art of the possible – though in our case we seem to be banking on the miraculous or the impossible a lot more recently. Parties miraculously get formed and just as miraculously get disbanded. As do ‘politicians’. Which may be why the experience and sheer will that Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari bring to the table is both comforting for their supporters and perhaps frightening for their many many detractors. Nawaz and Zardari are two of the oldest and more experienced leaders in the country and, while they may not see eye to eye on many issues, they have over the years not been averse to strategizing together. There were rumours that Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari spoke over the phone on Monday but both parties denied the news. Despite the denials, there have been instances in the past where not much news has come out after phone calls and even meetings between the two senior leaders. In recent months, and especially after the May 9 incidents, the two political parties have grown apart despite being key members of the PDM-led government that ruled the country for 16 months. Now that elections are near, the PPP feels that the PML-N has been given a clear edge due to the ouster of Imran Khan from the political arena. Regardless of the nitty-gritty of power plays in the country, on one thing the PPP is right: the elections should be free and fair, and a level-playing field should be given to all political parties.