Would Asif Zardari’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) ever be able to forget the bitterness of the past and join hands to take the country out of  its present crisis? Both the leaders during their meeting in Islamabad have once again pledged to pick up the thread from the historic document, the Charter of Democracy (CoD), signed by Nawaz Sharif and late Benazir Bhutto on May 14, 2006 signaling an alliance between the two main political parties and outlining steps to end the military rule established by General Pervez Musharraf in 1999. The fate of CoD needs no mention because soon after coming into power Mr Zardari said it was not a divine document. Following this, both PPP and PML-N remained at draggers drawn and at one stage Zardari dismissed Shahbaz Sharif’s government in Punjab and imposed the Governor’s rule. After this, Shahbaz Sharif targeted Zardari terming him a plunderer of national wealth. During the election campaign, Shahbaz focused on Zardari holding him responsible for all the ills the country was facing. However, it is encouraging to note positive gesture of Nawaz Sharif who has said: “We will forget past bitterness and move forward to solve the problems being faced by the people and the country and try to implement the CoD”. Going a step further, the PML chief said his party would not seek the President’s resignation. Zardari also sounded a positive note saying that Nawaz would, as the incoming Prime Minister, get full cooperation from the Presidency.
Once settled in the saddle, Nawaz Sharif’s government would be facing enormous challenges and with the expectation level of the people being very high, he will have to take unpalatable decision keeping the merit of the cases in view. One learns that PML task forces are engaged in a hectic activity to formulate appropriate policies and the mechanism to implement them. One would wish Nawaz Sharif well to accomplice this gigantic task of strengthening the national economy.