By announcing a relief of Rs. 14 per unit to electricity consumers in Punjab only, Nawaz Sharif has deliberately tried to cause problems for his ally Zardari. Punjab is getting the relief so the people in the province can start supporting PMLN, but in Sindh the situation is different.
It will be very difficult for Zardari's PPP government in Sindh to give a similar relief, because the beneficiaries will be mostly Urdu-speakers in the cities (who don't vote for PPP). PPP supporters are mainly in the interior of Sindh, where electricity theft is rampant. Most electricity meters there are either rigged to show very little consumption, or the consumers have bypassed meters and steal electricity. This has put Zardari in a spot. He knows that the Urdu speakers will never vote for his party, so why give them any relief?
But perhaps Nawaz Sharif has made a mistake. Zardari may opt to withdraw support to the federal government, but after the army crackdown on officers supporting Imran Khan, he may not have much of a choice. If, as is generally believed, those arrested confess and Imran's wife turns into a material witness against him, Imran Khan's party will find it difficult to survive and the whole country will then be under the control of Nawaz's party PML. Interesting days ahead.
Post a Comment