- The PML(N) joins the PPP in taking part in the by-polls
All the glassy-eyed bonhomie between the PML(N) and the PPP, the latest example being to contest the by-elections next month on two national and five provincial systems, cannot conceal the fact that the goal of preventing the Senate elections due in March has been abandoned. Also abandoned seems any hope of getting the government to resign by the PDM’s deadline of January 31, which leaves the PDM without a goal, and apparently without any means of moving forward. The disclosure, made by PML(N) leader Khurram Dastagir, that resignations of legislators will be given even later, after the Senate elections, means that the PDM components will take part in the Senate elections, rather than leave the PTI to take all the seats coming up for grabs. The main PDM components, the PML(N) and PPP will not compete against each other in the by-elections, but that means that they are gearing up for the Senate elections. It now seems that any PDM Long March will only take place after some time. Perhaps the PDM might consider that it will be feasible in autumn, which will in turn mean that the summer, both the hot weather and the rains, will be over.
The PDM’s essential failure seems to have been that of not causing enough panic in the PTI and any circles that might back it. Though the government did seem rattled at times, it does seem to have stayed the course, and seen off its opponents. The PTI has turned the resignations on the PDM’s head, by derisively and constantly demanding that they be submitted, thus turning their non-submission into an issue. The impression that remains with the public is that the PDM legislators, who belong mainly to the PML(N) and PPP, are unwilling to submit them, will not be an asset.
However, though the PDM seems to be fading into the background, the issues it had tried to highlight, and which it was supposed to fix if given another chance after fresh elections, remain. The economy has still not recovered, and the sufferings of the common man continue. However, it is likely that these sufferings will be overshadowed by the collapse of the PDM in the by-elections which proved so crucial to the entire internal debate in the PDM.
