LAHORE, Jan 23: The Qaumi Jamhoori Party has emerged at a time when the national scene lacks political stability and most political organizations do not recognize their role in meeting the modern day social and economic demands of the people.
A vacuum exists since the exit of major political parties from the corridors of power. The parties are also riven by internal conflicts on the ideological or organizational fronts.
The weak political structure may not fully comprehend the new electoral system which encompasses conventional and new methods of representation and provides for a wide scope for manoeuvring particularly for special seats.
The new party, having been formed in Lahore in the third week of December last, is believed to be eying these seats in particular. The QJP is essentially a coalition of a host of non-government organizations which have been working in a number of socio-economic fields for years and now want to reap political benefit from their work.
The political experience of the party comes from the six- party Pakistan National Conference which thought of merging into a single political organization years ago. But when the actual stage came, only the Tehrik-i-Istiqlal and the Islamabad-based Social Democratic Group remained committed to the idea and the other parties, including Ajmal Khatak’s National Awami Party of Pakistan and Abid Hasan Minto’s National Workers’ Party, refused the merger at the eleventh hour.
The new party has nominated Omar Asghar Khan as its national organizer and deferred all other organizationl and policy matters to a later stage. Some months are required for a proper launch and in the meantime, a number of committees have been set up to work out a manifesto and a constitution and to meet other organizational requirements.
But certainly before that the Qaumi Jamhoori Party will be in a state of preparedness for the general elections scheduled for October. It is rather for this electoral contest that the QJP has been formed. More pertinent is the matter of seats to be filled under the proportional representation system and many believe that the new party may fancy its chances on these seats.
The QJP claims sympathisers in several classes of people, particularly the middle class and the “silent majority.”
In an informal interview with Dawn in Lahore the other day, Omar Asghar Khan said the QJP was a people-oriented, forward-looking political party, essentially of the middle classes, and a coalition of other economic and social forces committed to safeguarding the rights of the people in all walks of life. The QJP national organizer gave a detailed explanation to a question raised by some quarters whether the new party was the creation of the Establishment. “Absolutely not; it is a totally false conception,” Mr Khan said and added that the idea of forming a new party had started years ago and it was a mere coincident that it had materialized only recently.
In an obvious reference to the NGOs, the QJP leader said he had always been working in concert with the forces in the field for the welfare of the people.
Besides, the local government elections had seen the emergence of new forces on the political scene and some of them really wanted to work from a single political platform. “You also develop a constituency while in government.”
The reason, he said, he was facing the wrath of religious extremists was the move for restoration of joint electorate and other reforms.
“The immediate cause was the September 11 terrorist attack on the United States and the subsequent government policy which resulted in tremendous pressure on us and it was becoming increasingly difficult for us to continue in office”, the QJP leader said.
All these factors added to the forming of a new political party and the experience of working together in the PNC and a strong desire of some important non-government organizations played a major role in expediting the matters, Mr Khan added.
The QJP is still a constituent of the PNC but will give a second thought to its relationship with the conference when its national executive council meets by mid-February. The party has written a letter to the present PNC chairperson, Ghinwa Bhutto, informing her of the decision that the QJP might reconsider its membership of the alliance.
As for forming an electoral alliance, Mr Khan had strong reservations. “I can’t say what decision the party will take, but I am personally opposed to alliances which affect political policy and party manifesto,” Mr Khan said. He also did not think that there were some like-minded parties in the arena. “It always leads to compromises and give-and-take.”
He thought that the proportional representation system required a sustainable post-election political arrangement which needed to be strengthened. “We have a perfect blueprint (for these arrangements) and want others to join us,” Mr Khan added.
When asked how would the QJP be able to prepare for general elections exercise in so short a time, the QJP national organizer hoped that the party could take up the challenge. “We are thinking of a strategy to focus particular classes and geographical areas.” Besides, he said, the QJP would develop into a political organization with intra-party democracy, collective leadership and a modern fund-raising methodology.
