Even if that does not happen, as a rational political player, Sharif should be able to calculate the risks involved in opting out of the coalition. It would not do to simply stay out of the government and lend it issue-based support. That option he wanted to exercise earlier but could not because Zardari told him clearly enough that they will sink and swim together.

The other possibility of quitting the treasury altogether means some kind of linkage with the rejectionists — the All Parties Democratic Movement and the more stringent factions of the lawyers. That would mean supporting their agitational politics.

That would also mean forcing the PPP hand into making a bid for Punjab, Sharif’s stronghold. In case that happens, Punjab would actually become Sharif’s Achilles’ heel. Let it be said that while Sharif is prepared to get out of the federal cabinet on a moral stand, losing Punjab, even such a prospect, is a different ballgame altogether.

Moreover, while Sharif’s politics, up until now, has brought into convergence the morality of the issue and political expediency, as a rational political player he has to maximise his political advantage and therefore at some point the scales must begin to tip in favour of what is doable rather than what is desirable.

The MQM is already straining at the leash to join the federal cabinet. The PMLQ, which is enjoying the spectacle from the sidelines after having been clobbered, is unlikely to remain on the fence if and when the PPP needs it to save the presidency.

... contd.