Opinion | Editorials

Schism can make Pakistan unstable

The failure of the government to deliver on its basic agenda will be the final straw.

  • Gulf News
  • Published: 00:03 May 13, 2008
  • Gulf News

With the prolonged threat that Pakistan's coalition government might crumble now set to become a reality, the split alliance took a step back in its quest for stability.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) need to take urgent stock of the situation as the country teeters on the brink of a political and economic breakdown.

The failure of the elected government to deliver on its basic agenda - which is permanence - will be the final straw.

The PML-N has taken the moral high ground by carrying out its threat of withdrawing its ministers from the cabinet after concluding that the PPP was adopting a softer approach in the bid to restore the judiciary sacked by President Pervez Musharraf.

The objective of these two parties was, at the very least, to try and dethrone Musharraf. However, it appears that they are now squabbling over what was a mutually endorsed battleplan. The collateral damage to this period of ambiguity has been the Pakistani economy.

Inflation is at an all time high, the rupee is sliding and investors are wary. Sharif's promises of continuing to support the government from outside notwithstanding, the political environment seems to be gloomy.

Gulf News

Opinion Editor's choice
  • Russia, China complicit
    Russia, China complicit in Syria carnage
    By Fawaz Turki, Special to Gulf News

    By their double veto at the UN, they have chosen to back the Al Assad regime that is already wet spaghetti

  • Manmohan Singh and Yousuf Raza Gilani
    Two prime ministers in trouble
    By Kuldip Nayar, Special to Gulf News

    Gilani faces contempt of court charge while Singh encounters moral responsibility in 2G scam case

  • Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
    Moving towards honest democracy
    By Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of Russia

    Russia needs to unbundle power and property and separate executive power from system of checks over it

Most people still consider spousal abuse as a private family matter and avoid getting involved.
What do you think?

Speak Your Mind

Is violence within a marriage a private matter?