The refusal of former Prime Minister Nawaz to take a call from former President Asif Zardari does not bode well for the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM). Indeed, it may well mark the end of this attempt of the parties they lead, the PML(N) and PPP respectively, to cooperate in the ouster of Prime Minister Imran Khan. There was an air of inevitability about the refusal, for it was not likely that anyone would take the call of someone who had just called them out over still being abroad while expecting legislators in Pakistan to resign from the House as part of a protest movement.
When there is weight given to the fact that there has been a clash between recently bailed Punjab Assembly Opposition Leader Hamza Shahbaz and PML(N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz, it is interesting that the alliance is not fracturing along generational or party lines, but along lines of those who favour or oppose cooperation with the umpire. Whereas Mr Sharif’s own abrasiveness has caused him to name the COAS and he DG ISI and blame them for imposing Mr Khan upon the country, it seems that this brand of naming and shaming is supported only by Mr Nawaz, not by brother Mian Shehbaz, who has taken over as party chief, nor by Mr Hamza Shehbaz. Mr Zardari is clearly falling within the latter’s group, with the result that the PDM must define itself before it proceeds any further.
An objective assessment would show the PDM that it was as far away from its goal as it was when it held it first rally last year, whether the goal is the avowed one of ousting Mr Khan, or whether it is the one ascribed to it by Mr khan, that of preventing the accountability of the heads of the PML(N) and the PPP. It needs a single-mindedness of purpose at present missing. The direct attacks on top military officials by Mr Sharif will not yield any of the desired results, if supporters of those officials continue to be so close to them that they affect the alliance’s decision-making. There are still many bridges that the PDM has to cross. It will not cross them until it is clear not just in its objective, but in its methods, and about its target.
