Government in a fix

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

As the political situation in the country becomes more fluid with every passing moment, not without posing unforeseen dangers to its nascent democratic system, there is urgent need for leaders of all political parties to rise above personal or party differences and join hands to make the situation stable. The crisis is pregnant with serious foreboding and the call for unity holds good both for those in power as well as out of it. However, it does not necessarily stipulate that the Gilani government be saved under all circumstances, but it certainly calls for addressing the current uncertainty and the moral question of a minority remaining in power, while the majority opposition is at loggerheads with it on certain vital issues. They should put their heads together and find a way out to sustain the democratic system.
The PML-N, the largest opposition party in Parliament, has come out with a 72-hour ultimatum for accepting its agenda – “people’s agenda” in the words of Mian Nawaz Sharif – for the two parties to work together. It has given 45 days for its implementation. If it were not put into effect, the PML-N would leave the Punjab government by February 20.
After a meeting of PML-N’s organising committee, Mian Nawaz listed the agenda’s items, which included: immediate reversal of the recent decision to raise the prices of petroleum products; devising a formula of raising the prices of power, gas and petroleum products that does not impact the common man; end to corruption in an effective manner and dispensing with the services of corrupt officials; appointment of men of integrity to run institutions; control on the prices of goods of daily use to give relief to the masses; full implementation of the Supreme Court orders on the NRO; reconstitution of the Election Commission; 30 percent reduction in government expenditure; transparent investigation of those suspected of involvement in the Haj, National Insurance Corporation, sugar, Steel Mills and Punjab Bank scandals and award of punishment to those found guilty; and the recovery of loans written off on political grounds.