Schism can make Pakistan unstable

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.