Restoration issue

This is not a very healthy message of hope to the bewildered nation which was expecting a new dawn of democracy after the February 18, 2008 election and more so after the resignation of Musharraf who was portrayed by one and sundry as the source of all that is faced by the nation. Without going into the internal and external challenges facing Pakistan, which may be described as unprecedented in our history, Pakistan is all set to elect a new president. This needs a national consensus. Furthermore, the lawyers seem to be in no mood to wait for the ultimate success or failure of the compromise formula. As if this was not enough the ongoing military operation in Bajaur and Swat compounded by the insurgency in Khurram Agency and Waziristan makes an already bad situation worst confounded. Is that all? No sir! As Shakespeare said, "One woe doth tread upon another's heel," terrorism is taking its gravest toll in almost daily suicide bomb attacks in various parts of the country.

May I dare say to our political leadership, inside and outside the parliament, in all humbleness, "Sir we are in a state of war against an invisible and unidentified enemy within and beyond our borders. And this is happening at a critical time when our economy is sliding rapidly downwards. I need not list the food and oil shortage, unemployment and rising cost of living white industry is touching a dangerous point of shutting down due to power shortage. The average citizen feels insecure to say the least. Sir, time is running out for you all to sit-down together and without losing a moment, please give the nation a new road map of your future strategy to pull the people of Pakistan out of the present state which cannot endure for an indefinite period. Let us for God's sake give up the dangerous ongoing game of brinkmanship to score our points against our political opponents. When ones house is on fire you look for a fire brigade as your top priority and the rest of the problems can wait.

The writer is the president of the Pakistan National Forum

E-mail: ikramullah@nation.com.pk