Pakistan needs election, not anarchy

It is not a great surprise that the governing coalition in Pakistan has split. The Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz have been bitter political rivals for decades, giving no quarter to each other.

In February 2008 after years of military dictatorship, the two parties fought a flawed election, with the election law changing mid-election, and both parties starting off as banned. Neither party was a clear winner, and they were forced into a coalition in order to remove Pervez Musharraf from office. Once the president had gone, there was no reason for the two political enemies to stay together, particularly since both parties have put up candidates for the presidency.

In looking ahead to see what should happen now, there are two priorities. The first is to deliver stable government and avoid any descent into political anarchy. The second is to avoid going back to military government. There is far too much speculation that the split in the coalition would automatically led to chaos and therefore the army would have to step in again. This would be a failure on a monumental scale.

Both parties have committed to giving more power to the prime minister's office. This should not stop. Both parties have said they would tackle militancy, and this should go ahead. They differ on how to handle the restoration of the Supreme Court, and the outgoing president, and these issues should be voted on in parliament. What is important is that the authority of parliament and of the prime minister should be established and accepted by both.

The narrow majority also means that new elections should be held as soon as possible, which should be run on stable and transparent lines, without presidential manipulation. And the party coming out of that process will have a genuine mandate to tackle Pakistan's deep seated problems.