The Pakistani Spectator

The submission of a bill for  the  repel of 17the amendment and 58 2 (B ) in parliament, (in the senate by Q league , and  in the  National  assembly by MQM  while PML (N)  too has submitted its  proposed bill to the PPP leadership )can be  termed  as  a sort of  challenge to the  PPP government and  in particular to its  parliamentarians. Though ,in the  presence of charter of  democracy , PPP  repeatedly  declared  stance of repelling the 17th amendment , and  the constitutional package ( the PPP government  has already presented , which  besides other recommendations, also  suggests for the abolishment of 58(2) B) .PPP  is also  rightly supposed to  be in favor of the  bill with out  any big  objection .. However  some  circles  fear that in the  changed political scenario PPP  may  not stick to its   earlier  stance  and  may soon show  fluctuation  regarding it  For this  reason  the  bill is considered as  a sort of challenges  to PPP . After  Zardari  assuming  the presidency and  also owing  to  his  peculiar   style  of  politics( his  being  imposing and  prevailing on govt  policies and decisions and  also his not sticking to pledges )  few  can now   believe that ppp  would  stick  to its  old  stance , In particular changes  curtailing  president powers may not  receive  Zardari approval, the  reason being that he is  not supposed to become  president  just to  be powerless and ceremonial  head .Since  the  last  few days speculations are  that  PPP seems  to  be  deviating  from its  earlier stance .The  statements  of some ppp leaders are cited  in this  regard

.In case of Zardari disapproval  it would be  seen  how and on which  logic  the ppp leaders change  their old  stance  and also  what  line  the  Prime Minster  and  the   democratic minded  parliamentarians of PPP may take  regarding the amendment. In this  regard  there  are two  views

One  is that they as the  top leadership  will follow what the all prevailing  and  imposing president will  like  and  instruct so  all the previous  rhetoric and tall claims of ppp leaders  regarding the removal of 17th amendments will be  set aside  and ignored while some  new grounds  and interpretations  will be  sought or some  political  crisis will be created so that  either on the  pretext of disagreement   or  in the  cover of the   crisis  it  can be  made  pending for  long  time  . Or it(PPP leadership) will  try to   manipulate the bill  in such way  so that   most  of the   powers of  the  president could be  remained in take .The  contenders  of  this  view  add that ppp leadership  would  start  preaching the  importance  and  utility  of  their  new  stance  for  which  some  intellectuals  and experts  will also come  forth  .While  all   the PPP  parliamentarians,  will be  brought  to  the  line  and  they  will  blindly  cherished and support it  as they are said to be  not having the  courage  to disagree  with the  President

However yet another view is that as Prime Minster has recently  openly  expressed  resentment for  being  taken  as powerless  chief executive and also  his determination  that he could  get the real powers  when  17th amendment is repelled   so  it is assumed  that he  will follow  the  dictates  of his own conscious instead of the  president and so he  will stand  for  his  old  stance –  repel of 17 the  amendment .In his  latest  statement  too he  has reaffirmed  his  determination of repelling the 17th  amendment and   strengthen the  parliament. The  presumed  growing  confidence  of  the  MP is also taken  to  be  suggestive  of his  having the support  of like  minded  ppp  parliamentarians for  his  stance  About  him  it is  further said   that  in spite  of his  gentle and cool  nature he  is  a self respected and  man of some  principles too  and   have a bright record  to his credit  in this  regard so  according  to  this view  he  should not be  considered  always a  Yes  man   In the  light of  stated   assumptions   the  holders  of this view are of  the  opinion that   PM  would  stick to his principled stand  and even  may opt to  face a  fate similar to  Junajo ,if the  situation so  demanded of him  instead  of working as  all obedient and submissive PM like Shaukat Aziz

In the coming days it will become clear  in which manner  the  PPP  leadership   and  parliamentarians  deal  with this   challenge . In case  they manage  to  repel  the   amendment  and in particular remove the 58(2) B it  would be  really a  great achievement  for  the cause  of parliamentary  democracy