The veteran political player, Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan (late) is considered to be the expert of alliance politics. He brought various political parties holding diverse views and ideologies at a single platform. Though he was politically active throughout his life, he never got a chance to rule the country or sit on the treasury benches. Those who used to be his friends while in opposition became his enemies after coming into power and again became friends when their government was dismissed.
Finally and formally, the alliance of PPP and PML (N) came to an end, when PML (N) requested the Speaker National Assembly to make Chaudhary Nisar, a senior leader and MNA of PML (N), the leader of the opposition in the House, making him the parliamentary leader of the largest opposition party in the National Assembly. On the other hand, the government accepted the resignations of PML (N) ministers pending since April and started negotiations with MQM for inducting their members in the federal cabinet. Hence, the artificial alliance, which came into being some two and a half years ago in London, met its fate and the two parties, who had vowed to work jointly for the cause of democracy, could not keep their promise and opted to part ways.
The tradition of the politics of alliance was initiated by Husain Shaheed Suhrawardy, who was the Prime Minister of Pakistan from September 1956 till October 1957. The first political alliance was formed in 1962 bearing the title of “Qaumi Jamhoori Mahaz,” which included political parties having diverse views and ideologies. This alliance launched the powerful movement against Ayub Khan’s dictatorship and worked for the restoration of democracy. Hence, the first dictator of the country was compelled to quit the government office. After the fall of Dhaka in 1971, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto came into power and when at the end of his term, he announced holding of the elections, his political opponents constituted an alliance known as “Pakistan Qaumi Ittehad” (Pakistan National Alliance) in January 1977, which consisted of nine political parties including those with a religious inclination such as Jamaat-e-Islami, Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam, Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Pakistan etc. They nominated Air Marshal (Retd.) Asghar Khan, the chief of Tehreek-e-Istaqlal as their candidate for the post of Prime Minister. The alliance (PNA) could not gain majority in the March 1977 elections. As a reaction to its defeat, it not only boycotted the elections of the provincial assemblies but after levelling allegations of large-scale rigging, launched a countrywide protest against Bhutto’s government. The prolonged protest continued for about four months. Finally, Bhutto succumbed to their demands and agreed to hold elections again. This entire game of consensus and reconciliation was spoiled by the then Chief of Army Staff General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haque, who ousted Bhutto’s government and imposed martial law in the country. This was followed by the imprisonment of the top leaders of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). Z.A. Bhutto was hanged and his family was either exiled or sent behind the bars.
Against Zia’s dictatorship, PPP formed a political alliance in collaboration with the other political parties called the “Movement for the Restoration of Democracy” (MRD). MRD initiated the long-awaited political activities, demonstrations and protests in the major cities of the country. After Zia’s death in a plane crash in 1988, Benazir Bhutto took part in the general elections of November 1988. Her political opponents formed a party called “Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI),” with Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi (who was the right hand of Bhutto) as its head. These were the first elections in which Benazir Bhutto participated and gained majority in three constituencies of the National Assembly. Being the head of the major political party in the Assembly, she was elected as the first lady Prime Minister of not only Pakistan but also of the Islamic world. Her government, being considered as corrupt and non-cooperative, was ousted after only twenty months and Nawaz Sharif (the leader of IJI at that time) came into power. In these elections, PPP took part from the platform of PDA (Pakistan Democratic Alliance), another coalition formed on September 10, 1990 which included Pakistan Muslim League (Qasim), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Istaqlal, and Pakistan Peoples Party.
The veteran political player, Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan (late) is considered to be the expert of alliance politics. He brought various political parties holding diverse views and ideologies at a single platform and remained the head of ARD (Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy), NDA (National Democratic Alliance) and COP (Combined Opposition Parties) for a long time. Though he was politically active throughout his life, he always held the seat of opposition and criticized every government that took charge. He never got a chance to rule the country or sit on the treasury benches. Those who used to be his friends while in opposition became his enemies after coming into power and again became friends when their government was dismissed. His friends Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto came into power twice but he did not join their governments.
In October 1999, General Musharraf dethroned Nawaz Sharif and became the Chief Executive of the country. Nawaz Sharif was exiled for ten years. At this point, Benazir Bhutto was in Dubai. After seven years, these two leaders decided to join hands and came to an agreement in May 2006 in London. The agreement “Meesaq-e-Jamhooriat” was a very surprising political deal that the two rivals have negotiated. It initiated political activities in the country but unfortunately, Benazir Bhutto was martyred after two months of her coming back to Pakistan on December 27, 2007.
After the elections held on February 18, PPP and PML (N) once again emerged as the two major political forces of the country. In the light of their May 2006 agreement, PPP and PML (N) decided to form governments in the centre and the provinces. PPP formed the government in the centre, Sindh and Baluchistan, while PML (N) got hold of Punjab. The big challenge to the coalition was to oust President Musharraf and reinstate judiciary. The two heads of the coalition government, Mian Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari signed a pact in March this year according to which all the judges were to be reinstated within 30 days of the formation of the government. Although, after taking the oath of the Prime Minister, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani had announced the release of all the home-arrested judges, they were not reinstated within the period mentioned in the pact. As a result of the non-compliance of the accord, the federal ministers belonging to PML (N) resigned from the ministries. Thereafter, negotiations were held between Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari and the former announced at a press conference in Lahore that the judges will be reinstated on May 12. Since this did not materialize as well, the two leaders started drifting apart. Final negotiations were held in August and it was decided that first Musharraf will be impeached or forced to resign and within twenty four hours after he leaves the office, judges will be reinstated. Though Musharraf resigned on August 18, the agreement was not implemented. In the meantime, schedule for presidential elections was announced by the election commission. This was a matter of astonishment for Nawaz Sharif that heightened the tension between the two parties and finally Mian Nawaz Sharif announced disassociation from the coalition government. The PML (N) leader was also very shocked to hear Zardari’s statement that “accords are not words of the Holy Quran or Hadith.” In the same press conference, Nawaz Sharif also announced the nomination of Justice (Retd) Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui as the presidential candidate of PML (N) against Asif Zardari. Zardari, at this point realized that he could not be successful until Nawaz Sharif withdraws his presidential candidate against him. He admitted that he had committed some political mistakes and sought apology from Nawaz Sharif. A few days prior to the elections, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said that PPP had never declined to reinstate the deposed judges. Till date no action has been taken in this regard and now the coalition, which had seen many tough times, has finally come to an end.
