On the one hand, the government expects the opposition to cooperate with it on a host of issues. These range from the need to maintain parliamentary decorum, which was so markedly absent during the recent budget session of the National Assembly, to electoral reform, as well as the preparation of a security policy, for which a recent briefing on national security was held. On the other hand, the government is not going about this in a spirit of conciliation. It is not a matter of independent institutions acting without government control. Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry’s claim that the government had recovered Rs33 billion from PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari in the fake accounts case, does not seem to have any basis, even though Mr Zardari has been summoned to appear in another related reference. The government cannot claim the same distance from the FIA as it does from NAB, and its use to ask Punjab Opposition Leader Hamza Shehbaz to provide not just his own money trail but that of Ittefaq employees, will not build bridges with the opposition. The attack on PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, accusing him of going to the US to seek help to topple the government, also does not encourage government-opposition understanding.
Meanwhile, it is for the opposition to understand that its disunity will only encourage the government in its campaign against its leaders. The parties might remember that the government was concerned by its unity in the PDM. It should not forget that the problems for it arose after its unity shattered on the shoals of the Senate election, after which the government saw an opportunity to ride roughshod over it.
Apart from unity, which is an unavoidable precondition, the opposition must also be clear that it must keep the government engaged. For example, on electoral reform, not only does the government need opposition numbers to make requisite two-thirds majority, it also needs it to be invested in the reforms, so as to accept the results they produce, whatever they may be. While the opposition will not lose sight of the advantage of individual parties, it must also not lose sight of the national interest. At the same time, the government must realise that it must pay greater attention to the national interest, because, after all, it is in charge.
