A hasty assessment

The Opposition is well within its rights to criticize the ruling party and identify its wrong policies but the white paper appears to be a cynical attempt to score political points rather than make an objective assessment of a three-month-old government. The PML-Q had better apply the same yardstick it has been using to measure its own performance while in office. The Makhdoom should not have ignored the fact that the ruling coalition is still grappling with the problems it has inherited from the previous regime. It certainly requires time to clear the mess created by the eight years of military rule that had plunged the country deeper into a quagmire. The two western provinces are up in arms against relentless repression. Balochistan is still bleeding. Pakistan watchers kept accusing the Musharraf Government of committing gross human rights violations. The Baloch were subjected to the worst kind of victimization for merely raising a voice for the protection of their rights and resources. The intelligence agencies allegedly remained involved in kidnapping the citizens while the National Accountability Bureau focused more on forcing opponents to change their loyalties rather than nabbing the genuinely corrupt.

The PPP-led coalition, however, cannot escape the blame for not providing any relief to people or set an example of good governance. It remained too deeply involved in the judges’ issue without resolving it as well as differences between the coalition partners over the future of the President persists. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani may have to do a lot of explaining whenever he gets time to brief the nation about his government’s performance during its first 100 days in office. But the government’s overall performance cannot improve until Mian Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari accept the ownership of the situation and are on the same page on pressing issues confronting the nation.