The post 18th amendment euphoric mood and belief in democracy and further autonomy to provinces, as the right option for the political set-up of the country as the antidote to a weaker federation, have not generated the desired results. The present resentment that is brewing in the federating units and coalition partners of the ruling party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) reveals that PTI is lacking the ability to mitigate the differences and alleviate the sense of marginalisation the provinces and its political partners are feeling.
Gilgit Baltistan (GB) is not happy with the present scheme of things. The people of the region feel betrayed as their demands for provisional provincial status are falling on deaf ears. Sindh is in open conflict with the centre. Sardar Akhtar Mengal of Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) is not happy with the attitude of PTI. Mengal thinks that the incumbent government is not meeting the six-point agenda that both the sides agreed upon. Even the ruling party’s coalition partner in Punjab, i.e., Pakistan Muslim League- Quaid (PML-Q) has serious reservations over the way PTI is treating it.
As if the economic challenges are not enough to exhaust the ruling party. Above the gigantic task of putting back the country’s economy on the right track, the political stability and the fate of coalitions that the ruling party entered into to form governments in provinces are in turmoil. Allegations of unfair treatment by PTI’s partners are not coming from one direction. The complaining voices show that the ruling party lacks adeptness in finding the solutions for the political disputes and differences.
The concerns of the parties that share power with PTI are not misplaced. The people of GB cannot be blamed for if they take their protest to roads and streets. The situation in Balochistan needs the attention of PTI. Human Rights in many regions of the country are in jeopardy, especially in the restive province of Balochistan where PTI and BNP-M are coalition partners.
The PTI leadership needs to ensure it does not open too many battlefronts at one time. The natural consequence of adopting such a strategy always fails the ruling party to complete its term in office. Pakistan’s history serves the purpose of a textbook for understanding the consequences of such the approach that PTI has taken up to run the affairs of the government. The democratic culture is still fragile in the country despite the third successive democratic transition. If PTI wants to complete term in office, the current situation of resentment needs to be addressed, and it is PTI that can do this.