LEADER of the Opposition in the National Assembly Mian Shahbaz Sharif has floated the idea of a national government for next five years.
In a television interview, Shahbaz, who is also President of PML (N), however, believed that the incumbent ruling party (PTI) should not be part of such a system.
The nature of internal and external problems and challenges facing Pakistan definitely require a consensus approach to handle them in best interests of the people and the country and that is why some circles have, off and on, been emphasising need for the formation of a national government.
It is, however, perplexing how a government can be called ‘national’ when one of the major political parties, with roots in the length and breadth of the country, is left out.
The political reasons behind such an idea (not to include PTI in national government) are understandable yet arrangement might not be perfect if implemented in this way.
There is confusion about final fate of the move to oust the PTI Government through a vote of no-confidence in Prime Minister Imran Khan as the two sides seem to be confident of their victory and are determined to fight to the finish.
The uncertainty is also caused by non-committal attitude of government allies, who are still in government but are not willing to announce their unequivocal support to government publicly.
However, in case the move succeeds then emerging scenario would surely give an impression of a ‘national’ or a ‘broad-based’ government as almost all worthwhile political parties and groups would get a piece of the pie either at the centre or in the provinces.
If PTI’s mandate in KP is not challenged then all parties would be in power in some way and will have the opportunity to show their worth by participating in the process of resolving problems of the people and promoting good governance.
It is, however, a big question mark whether such an arrangement can sustain for long because of conflicting political interests.
The system can produce desired results only if there is a national dialogue to heal wounds and evolve broad-based consensus on how to run affairs of the country especially in the realms of economy and foreign affairs.
