The political temperature in the country that has been oscillating from one extreme to the other ever since the PPP assumed the reins of power at the federal level has begun to show a steady rising trend some time ago. It all started with the PML-Qs policy of chronic and deep-seated hostility towards the PPP taking a dramatic turn and the two parties forming a coalition. Soon afterwards the MQM, which had left the coalition in a huff, reached a compromise with the PPP and rejoined. The prospects of the PPP and its partners gaining control of the Upper House in the Senate elections due next March, most likely proved the last straw that broke the PML-N's paralysis and it appears they have reached the decision that now is the time to go the whole hog against the PPP and strive to rid them of their place in government. Luckily for the PML-N, there is no dearth of evidence of its corruption, defiance of the Constitution and law and, indeed, poor governance to exploit. The PPP can hardly be credited with honouring any of its promises to the people made in the election manifesto. Instead, with its failure to deliver stability, at the very least, it makes for an easy target. Runaway inflation, prolonged loadshedding causing large-scale disruption of life and industry and leading to sharp economic decline and ever-rising numbers of unemployment are common. Thus, the nation has been witnessing PML-N President Mian Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif and some other party leaders unreservedly critical of the government, particularly targeting President Zardari. Though addressing a press conference at Sakrand in Nawabshah on Wednesday, Mian Nawaz maintained, Go Zardari Go is not our slogan, our slogan is to rid the nation of this government. In the same breath he declared, President Zardari is single-handedly running the whole country. Only when this government had been felled, he asserted, could the fate of the nation change. Its corruption, touching a record high, and rank inefficiency were a blot on the fair name of democracy. He launched a formal anti-government campaign with a rally at Dera Ghazi Khan on October 19, as per the previously announced schedule of the campaign, and wondered how with PML-Q and MQM in the coalition, the government could put an end to corruption. The MQM was accused of setting off the wave of terrorism in the country when it came into being through this stratagem. Meanwhile, in Lahore, Mian Shahbaz also addressed the convention of party workers, detailing the underlining corruption and other malpractices of the government. The PPP could not be expected to stay still in the face of this onslaught. Its stalwarts stood up to challenge the PML-N and level counter-charges, particularly former Law Minister Babar Awan who in his usual scathing style pointed a finger at 'Punjab rulers racing for corruption; Prime Minister Gilani warned that in case of mass resignations from PML-N legislators, there would be bye-elections, and Information Minister Firdous Awan pleading for the President to be spared of criticism. Ideally, there would not have been any need for political wrangling and one would have wished the government to have functioned smoothly and in an above-board manner. However, confronted with the unfortunate reality one expects the politicians to find a solution within the Constitution.