According to news reports that are now being released, MQM has reached a decision to sit on the opposition benches. I think Altaf Hussain may want to invite Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats (UK), over for tea. By choosing to sit on opposition benches, MQM is making the same mistake that the Liberal Democrats did in the UK – sacrificing a potential consensus relationship for a better seat at a worse table.
Following the last UK elections, Labour – the largest liberal party – did not have enough seats to form a government. A scramble ensued as Labour and the Conservatives tried to woo smaller parties to be the first able to form a government. At the end of the day, a strange marriage was agreed to between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats who are more to the left even of Labour.
The strategy from the point of view of the Liberal Democrats is that they were tired of being a small party and wanted a better seat at the table of government. By playing ‘King Maker’ to the Conservative party, they were able to get that said and Nick Clegg found himself the new Deputy PM.
That was in May.
Now the Liberal Democrats find themselves dreading next week’s by elections in the UK. Despite the party’s orientation towards populism, they are a critical part of a government that has hiked tuition fees for thousands of students despite a pre-election pledge to vote against any fee increases. Polls now suggest support for the party has been halved as a result of their throwing in with the Conservatives.
As Andrew Russell, a lecturer in politics at the University of Manchester told Bloomberg News, “They are now facing up to the fact that this is a Conservative government with some Liberal Democrat ministers.”
Any coalition government is going to support policies that clash with MQM’s priorities. Under the leadership of the PPP, the government has taken on some fairly unpopular policies such as the petrol hike that the MQM refers to. But one must ask two questions: One, is it likely that such austerity measures would not exist under a government led by another party and Two, is there another party large enough to lead a coalition that would support policies more closely aligned with the stated principles of MQM?
In short, MQM should be asking itself not whether it is frustrated with some policies under the present coalition, but whether it thinks any other government is going to be better for its goals. Sitting on opposition benches and making speeches about how awful the government is is an easy task. Stop in any tea stall or drawing room and you’ll find plenty of would-be backbenchers.
There’s a lot of good points in the guiding principles of MQM. What a shame it will be to see those principles and their spokesmen sidelined from government discussions by their own choice when they could continue to have a seat at the table of a more closely aligned government and influencing the direction of government in a positive way.
