A word of caution

MIAN Nawaz Sharif has called on President-elect Asif Zardari before proceeding to London, without there being any breakthrough in the talks. The PML-N has also formally submitted to the National Assembly Secretariat Ch Nisar Ali Khan's application for being nominated Leader of the Opposition. The party has also reiterated the demand that the PPP withdraw from the Punjab cabinet. Unless Mr Zardari restores in a surprise move all the remaining judges and agrees to the appointment of Justice Iftikhar as the Chief Justice, there is little chance of the fulfilment of his desire to have a genuinely broad-based coalition running the country. Whether the PPP sits on the opposition benches in the Punjab Assembly or not, the PML-N should try to develop a working relationship with it. At the same time the PPP should not deprive the PML-N of its mandate to rule the province. Any attempt in that direction would revive the post-1988 rivalries and constitute the first step towards the unravelling of the democratic system. Commitment to the principle of provincial autonomy would require that the Centre does not take recourse to the ploys available to it to destabilize the Punjab administration. Let the two-party system, that was being formed before the 1999 coup, be revived and allowed to function without recourse to conspiracies and vendettas. It is time the two mainstream parties run the country in accordance with the Charter of Democracy.