APC: a ‘second thoughts’ conference?
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Editorial, Daily Times, Pakistan
May 16, 2009
On Monday, the government will try to persuade the opposition inside and outside parliament that the military action in Malakand Division should be allowed to go on. Before that our army chief General Ashfaq Kayani would have given them an in-camera briefing on how the military operations in FATA and Malakand are faring, after the army’s earlier declaration that the Taliban no longer control any area.
The APC has been convened after a strident demand made “in retrospect” by the opposition inside a parliament that has apparently changed its mind for the third time. The APC call was ignored when the parliament supported the military operation last week. But after the refugees started pouring out of Swat and other places, the mood changed back to the APC. So what will be the intent behind the APC?
Normally a government risks an APC when it knows that it will obtain a policy consensus out of it. If this consensus is not obtained, what are the options open to the government? It can either ignore the APC and go against the “nay-sayers” in it, relying more on its own popularity than on an all-parties support, or call off the operation. Will the APC be any help on Monday?
Read more
May 16, 2009
On Monday, the government will try to persuade the opposition inside and outside parliament that the military action in Malakand Division should be allowed to go on. Before that our army chief General Ashfaq Kayani would have given them an in-camera briefing on how the military operations in FATA and Malakand are faring, after the army’s earlier declaration that the Taliban no longer control any area.
The APC has been convened after a strident demand made “in retrospect” by the opposition inside a parliament that has apparently changed its mind for the third time. The APC call was ignored when the parliament supported the military operation last week. But after the refugees started pouring out of Swat and other places, the mood changed back to the APC. So what will be the intent behind the APC?
Normally a government risks an APC when it knows that it will obtain a policy consensus out of it. If this consensus is not obtained, what are the options open to the government? It can either ignore the APC and go against the “nay-sayers” in it, relying more on its own popularity than on an all-parties support, or call off the operation. Will the APC be any help on Monday?
Read more
Labels: APC, Militants, Pakistan, Pakistan Army Operation, Swat, Taliban, Terrorism
posted @ 11:52 AM,
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