The war scare with the USA was supposed to have been taken up by the National Assembly on Monday, and it was, but it was overtaken by domestic events, and the really hot topic was the outbreak of rioting after the extent of loadshedding was increased dramatically. The Assembly was fobbed off by the PM promising that a Parliamentary Committee would be set up to monitor the implementation of the All Parties Conference (APC) resolution on the crisis, in which they had expressed backing for the armed forces, though without mentioning against whom. However, what seemed of more importance was the fact of the backing. Thus, the Pakistan armed forces were satisfied, while the US also was not offended too much. However, Washington was not able to gain what it really wanted, which was for the Pakistan Army to launch an attack on the Haqqani network.
The coincidence of the power protests with the war scare may have convinced some that power shortages are related to the refusal to attack. This might be taking things too far, but it should not be forgotten that the circular debt has made foreign-owned power plants, like Kot Addu, go off-grid; Kot Addu in particular coming back as soon as the Pakistan government made available the cash. As Kot Addu itself should remind us, it was when the then Nawaz government was negotiating the power tariff with the IPPs that new items appeared against the PM in the British press. It should not be forgotten that the government would see the power protests as another challenge, as they have proved to be, adding to the other PML-Q grievances and making it leave the government, though it came back very soon. These protests would not go away just because an operation was launched in North Waziristan, for the crisis cannot be turned on or off as if it had a switch, and it depends on factors beyond the control even of consumers. It must not be forgotten that power is an area which the USA wants to see develop in Pakistan, apparently as a substitute for the Reconstruction Opportunity Zones that it had long ago promised for the tribal areas, but which it shows no signs of developing.
One of the factors behind the APC carrying more weight than the National Assembly has got to be the fact that the major parties lack leaders in Parliament. Even at the Conference, it was noticeable that the two largest government parties - PPP and MQM - were not represented by their leaders, but by representatives. While the PPP’s Chairmanship is currently split between Asif Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the MQM is still headed by Altaf Hussain, its founder. However, Altaf has been in self-imposed exile since 1992, and has never even contested an election. Zardari has been prevented from conducting party functions in the Presidency, having preferred to be elected President at a time when - pre-18th Amendment - it was a very powerful office, having been crafted to meet the needs of Musharraf after he had ceased to be the head of government as Chief Executive. Not just the main government parties, but the main opposition party - the PML-N, is headed by Mian Nawaz Sharif, who is not in Parliament, having been disqualified at the last election. The PML-Q is headed by Ch Shujaat Hussain, who is in Parliament, but as a Senator, and therefore the Lower House does not enjoy his presence there. In fact, Asfandyar Wali is the leader of the largest National Assembly delegation, who is also head of his party. Since that delegation is not particularly large, it appears that Pakistan is becoming part of the trend where party heads stay out of Parliament, unless it means holding office. In the case of Zardari, even that does not hold good. Admittedly, the circumstances in which he found himself were peculiar, but the result has been an unusual one for a Westminster-style parliamentary democracy: Neither the Leader of the House, nor the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly is head of his party. This is merely a continuation of a trend first started by the MQM, where Altaf stayed out of Parliament even when his party was rolling up huge majorities in the National Assembly. It should also be noted that where Mian Nawaz was disqualified and Shujaat defeated, Altaf and Zardari did not even try to be part of the Assembly. Asif had a safe seat in Nawabshah, Nawaz in Lahore as well as in Mansehra district, but neither could take the seats.
One result has been that the Assembly has lost in importance, and has become a place to be in only if there is a job going with it. That means that an APC is not just, as the PM puts it, the place where the government can talk to parties, like Tehrik-i-Insaf that boycotted the last election even though it had some strength in the country, but a place where the government can reach out to the heads of parties which have representation in the Assembly. It is possible to see the government as experimenting with various mechanisms, as it had previously held joint sessions of Parliament on national security issues; this time it was trying, among other purposes, to drum up support for the armed forces, but an APC implies that Parliament is not sufficiently representative. That also implies the belief that the elections which called Parliament into existence were not honest. A corollary is that Parliament is not the place, or at least not sufficient, to win support for the armed forces.
The coincidence of the power protests with the war scare may have convinced some that power shortages are related to the refusal to attack. This might be taking things too far, but it should not be forgotten that the circular debt has made foreign-owned power plants, like Kot Addu, go off-grid; Kot Addu in particular coming back as soon as the Pakistan government made available the cash. As Kot Addu itself should remind us, it was when the then Nawaz government was negotiating the power tariff with the IPPs that new items appeared against the PM in the British press. It should not be forgotten that the government would see the power protests as another challenge, as they have proved to be, adding to the other PML-Q grievances and making it leave the government, though it came back very soon. These protests would not go away just because an operation was launched in North Waziristan, for the crisis cannot be turned on or off as if it had a switch, and it depends on factors beyond the control even of consumers. It must not be forgotten that power is an area which the USA wants to see develop in Pakistan, apparently as a substitute for the Reconstruction Opportunity Zones that it had long ago promised for the tribal areas, but which it shows no signs of developing.
One of the factors behind the APC carrying more weight than the National Assembly has got to be the fact that the major parties lack leaders in Parliament. Even at the Conference, it was noticeable that the two largest government parties - PPP and MQM - were not represented by their leaders, but by representatives. While the PPP’s Chairmanship is currently split between Asif Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the MQM is still headed by Altaf Hussain, its founder. However, Altaf has been in self-imposed exile since 1992, and has never even contested an election. Zardari has been prevented from conducting party functions in the Presidency, having preferred to be elected President at a time when - pre-18th Amendment - it was a very powerful office, having been crafted to meet the needs of Musharraf after he had ceased to be the head of government as Chief Executive. Not just the main government parties, but the main opposition party - the PML-N, is headed by Mian Nawaz Sharif, who is not in Parliament, having been disqualified at the last election. The PML-Q is headed by Ch Shujaat Hussain, who is in Parliament, but as a Senator, and therefore the Lower House does not enjoy his presence there. In fact, Asfandyar Wali is the leader of the largest National Assembly delegation, who is also head of his party. Since that delegation is not particularly large, it appears that Pakistan is becoming part of the trend where party heads stay out of Parliament, unless it means holding office. In the case of Zardari, even that does not hold good. Admittedly, the circumstances in which he found himself were peculiar, but the result has been an unusual one for a Westminster-style parliamentary democracy: Neither the Leader of the House, nor the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly is head of his party. This is merely a continuation of a trend first started by the MQM, where Altaf stayed out of Parliament even when his party was rolling up huge majorities in the National Assembly. It should also be noted that where Mian Nawaz was disqualified and Shujaat defeated, Altaf and Zardari did not even try to be part of the Assembly. Asif had a safe seat in Nawabshah, Nawaz in Lahore as well as in Mansehra district, but neither could take the seats.
One result has been that the Assembly has lost in importance, and has become a place to be in only if there is a job going with it. That means that an APC is not just, as the PM puts it, the place where the government can talk to parties, like Tehrik-i-Insaf that boycotted the last election even though it had some strength in the country, but a place where the government can reach out to the heads of parties which have representation in the Assembly. It is possible to see the government as experimenting with various mechanisms, as it had previously held joint sessions of Parliament on national security issues; this time it was trying, among other purposes, to drum up support for the armed forces, but an APC implies that Parliament is not sufficiently representative. That also implies the belief that the elections which called Parliament into existence were not honest. A corollary is that Parliament is not the place, or at least not sufficient, to win support for the armed forces.
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