The sabre-rattling going on between the PPP and the PML-N evident from recent barrage of accusations is hardly a sensible way of resolving the issues under dispute, foremost of them being loadshedding. On Saturday, PML-N leader Mian Shahbaz Sharif again threatened to take out a long march to unseat the government over what he alleged were the Rs 500 billion losses inflicted on Punjab by the federal government as a result of power outages. This allegation has been denied by the PPP which maintains that the provincial government itself is not paying dues to the IPPs. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has ridiculed such threats by saying that the time for the march has long gone. His statement that the proponents of the long march have no mandate would further ratchet up tensions between the two parties. This slanging match is certain to add to the prevailing political uncertainty and unrest in the country without resolving the issue.
Both the sides must stop blaming each other and agree to form a national commission on energy crisis which should ensure equal distribution of electricity to the provinces. The focus should be on finding a lasting solution to loadshedding not using it as a means for political point-scoring. Division of electricity should be according to their needs. Since ultimately, it is Pakistan that is suffering, the leaders should desist from seeing the crisis as merely a local or a provincial issue. It is a national scourge that needs a lasting solution.