Pakistan Heading Towards General Elections
Having secured landslide victory in the local government elections, the ruling political group in Pakistan (led by PML) should be definitely eyeing on the next electoral exercise due in 2007 for the best. What the MMA and ARD will do is that visible through their protest agenda they intend to execute after the Ramazan; they want to have general elections far before the scheduled time.
The three-phase local bodies elections have yield ‘unprecedented’ results. The candidates supported by the ruling political group have swept three provinces of the country – Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan. The ARD parties, PML-N and PPP-P, have been cut to size while MMA, the alliance of six religious parties, has lost grounds in Sindh and NWFP.
Musharraf had termed LG polls as a contest between the progressive and reactionary forces well ahead of these elections – he forthrightly asked the nation to reject the retrogressive forces and elect progressive individuals instead. The PML leadership has duly attributed its success in the LG elections to the policy of enlightened moderation, expounded by Musharraf, whose application in the economic, political and social spheres, it claims, has not only brought political stability but also improved country’s international standing.
The ruling party claims of putting the country’s economy on the path of stability. Pakistan achieved a growth rate of 8.4 percent during last fiscal year and has become one of the fastest growing economies of the Asian region. Situated on the crossroads of the South and Central Asia, it is poised to become a regional hub of business activities. Economic and administrative reforms have made it an attraction for the investors from Middle East, Far East Asia, Europe and Americas. Political stability and consistency in policy is behind all these economic strides.
Pakistan’s frontline state role in the global war on terror, spearheaded by the US, has helped it to distance itself away from the retrogressive policies it had adopted during the Cold War era. The leadership of the country is active in projecting Pakistan as a peace-loving nation. Musharraf has recently addressed a gathering of the Jewish community in America; he stressed better understanding among the people of different faiths so that the world should become a peaceful and tolerant place.
The PML-led government has also made impressive moves vis-Ã? -vis promoting friendly relations with neighbouring countries. The ongoing peace process with India has yielded better trade and economic relations, intensifying people-to-people contacts and the much-desired dialogue on the Kashmir issue. Pakistan has taken important steps to draw Afghanistan closer where its more than sixty thousand nationals are employed. From facilitating Afghanistan’s trade to providing it help for safe general elections (through fencing its border), all efforts are focussed on having peace in neighbourhood.
The PML-led government has given a pledge to the nation that it will provide clean drinking water, electricity and gas to all parts of the country by 2007. Besides this, it has engaged itself in development projects like water conservation and expansion of rail-road networks across the country. Economic managers of the government insist that improving standards of life is their objective after they have achieved micro-economic stability for the country.
Improving centre-province relations is another achievement of the ruling group. Punjab Chief Minister, Ch Pervez Elahi, has agreed to withdraw his province’s much disputed share from the waters of Kalabagh Dam, if it is constructed. Resolving Sui crisis amicably and later announcing financial package for Balochistan is a rare incident in Pakistan’s political history, for the similar situations in the past have had only invited military operations from the centre, cultivating the sense of deprivation and alienation among the smaller provinces.
For the past four years the ruling party has stood for promoting culture of tolerance, political reconciliation and pluralism in Pakistan, the Secretary General PML, Mushahid Hussain Sayed, says insisting that the policies of his party are informed by reason rather than emotionalism. He believes that days are over when the people used to believe in shallow slogans. Shujaat Hussain has recently confirmed that he will hold party elections before 2007 and that the next general elections will be held under an interim premier. Through doing so he intends to cultivate a healthy political culture that will indicate an end to family and hierarchical politics practiced throughout our history.
The growing weakness of the opposition camp is also a source of strength for the ruling party of Pakistan. The PML-N and PPP-P are on the course of decline due to the absence of their mainstream leadership from domestic political scene; these parties have recently been paralyzed through the defections of their stalwarts in Punjab. The PML has welcomed Iqbal Khakwani into its camp while PPP-P is simply shocked over the incidents of betrayal in which Qureshis of Multan and Pirachas of Sargodha parted their ways and joined the ruling camp.
Electoral trends of last two decades suggest that Pakistanis have a tendency to have a majority government. People voted PML-N to power with two-third majority but the party could not come up to their expectations. Analysts say PML will be the next choice of the public, for the forces that matter in country’s politics are part of this party now. Such a tendency has roots in the urge of the people to get resolved lingering problem of the country like provincial autonomy, construction of large dams, NFC Award and territorial disputes with India.
