PESHAWAR, March 18: Coalition governments have never been a good experience — at least in the North-West Frontier Province, which has a history of short-lived arrangements.

Even the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal government, which otherwise had a smooth sailing thanks to the famed pragmatism of Maulana Fazlur Rehman and a friendly establishment, was not free from its share of infighting and mud-slinging.

So what is different about the ANP-PPP coalition government in the NWFP? Both have been coalition partners in the past as well. Back in 1988, the two parties had cobbled a coalition government under Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, PPP’s then NWFP president.

The marriage of convenience did not last long and the government collapsed in a matter of months after Mr Sherpao engineered defections from rival camps and doled out cabinet berths, making ministers from the ANP largely ineffective and powerless.

The two parties are, however, back in business and one wonders whether the fate of this union would be any different from the past.

The two parties have been part of different political alliances, most recently the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy. Both share liberal-secular views and have almost identical views on such issues as provincial autonomy, a proper name for the NWFP and opposition to the Kalabagh dam.

But apart from the unresolved issues, a new factor that has brought the two parties closer and is likely to top the agenda of the new parliament is the “war on terror”.

Asif Ali Zardari, the PPP co-chairman, and ANP leader Asfandyar Wali Khan have gone on record calling for “redefining the war on terror”.

What shape would the redefined war on terror policy take? It’s difficult to say. What, however, is clear is that it will have to incorporate the divergent views of the two major coalition partners -– the PPP and PML (N) on the one hand, and the ANP and JUI (F) on the other, analysts say.

But given the stated positions of these political parties, it is not difficult to say that there would be emphasis on engaging militant groups of myriad ideologies through political means.

One ANP leader says a distinction would have to be made between sectarian outfits and the more amenable tribal lot who are only against an intrusive military presence in their areas.

And if he is to be believed, the Pakhtun nationalist party is already in touch with some of these groups. That would allow the government space to deal with hardcore militants, which, he maintains, could be done through surgical operations.

But whether these efforts would bear fruit would depend on how much and how far our security establishment is willing to accommodate views of the new political dispensation while taking decisions about tribal areas and on the Afghan issue. And equally important is whether the new political leadership would be able to enlist support of the Bush administration.

This, some analysts say, is by no means an easy task.

Details and modalities of such engagements are yet to be worked out. These include questions relating to who-to-negotiate with and at what level.

While the bonhomie among political parties may last for a while, there are no illusions that it would be a smooth sailing for coalition partners in the NWFP. One western diplomat remarked recently: “The hard task has just begun.”

In the strictly provincial context, it may turn out that the ANP and PPP do not have any major disagreements even on issues such as naming the NWFP as “Pukhtunkhwa” and provincial autonomy. A senior ANP leader recently went so far as to claim that the party had Asif Zardari’s “full commitment” on these issues.

LAW & ORDER: The toughest challenge for the PPP-ANP combine would come on the law and order front. Revival of the economy and growing unemployment are other headaches.

According to official statistics, 42 per cent of the province’s population in the NWFP lives below the poverty line --- the highest ratio in Pakistan. The World Bank in a report noted: “As a result of lack of jobs in the province, workers find it necessary to migrate in search of better opportunities to the urban metropolises of the richer provinces (especially Karachi).”

Even its achievement in health and education sectors, the report said, was below the national average. Analysts agree that security is a pre-requisite for economic revival and bringing in investment.

Overhauling the bureaucracy to bring in capable officers to think out of the box and reordering priorities should be the foremost objectives.

“Sincerity of purpose alone would not help resolve these very difficult issues. The NWFP would need the backing of not only the federal government, but also of the international community, mainly the United States, to help reshape policies to our mutual advantage,” a minister-designate observed.