By IANS,
Islamabad : Lack of confidence in the political and military leadership of Pakistan, as also their lack of initiative, has pushed the country “into a blind alley while a defeated but stubborn president seems determined to avenge his humiliation by destroying the political system which he has failed to control”, a leading commentator said Sunday.
“The political leadership is failing dismally to grasp the damage being caused to its own capacity to take control of matters as a flip-flop coalition of all kinds of apples and oranges muddles through, directionless and clueless,” Shaheen Sehbai wrote in The News in an article headlined “Will someone stop this rot?”
According to Sehbai, the group editor of The News, any student of politics could visualise the logjam that had been created by the results of the Feb 18 general elections.
With no party being able to secure a clear majority, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) stitched together a coalition that has so far only agreed to disagree on any major issue.
“While the mandate was absolutely clear and resounding against President Pervez Musharraf, he has refused to admit it and continues to assert himself, hoping that the others would commit mistakes and give him the opening to regain his lost power and credibility,” Sehbai wrote.
That this fatalistic approach went against national interests and could cause grievous damage to the country was beyond Musharraf’s imagination or understanding, Sehbai added.
The political parties had formed a “wishy-washy coalition” but their commitment and sincerity was being tested every day.
This apart, the mistakes being made by the political leaders, especially PPP co-chair Asif Ali Zardari, were already costing him his credibility and image.
“The flip-flop cavalier manner in which he is conducting the affairs of the state will soon turn him into a laughing stock with no one to trust his word or capability,” Sehbai wrote.
“As soon as the stoned and somewhat dazed PPP leadership wakes up and realizes that Zardari is not fit to lead the party or the coalition, as he has tried to play too many clever tricks with too many people, too many times, the revolt from within will destroy the PPP itself,” he added.