One of the unintended, yet predictable, outcomes of the rise of the PTI is that it has allowed the PML-N and the PPP, which remained at daggers drawn during the turbulent decade of the 1990s, to become bedfellows. In a larger context, it has changed Pakistan’s political landscape from a duopoly to an oligopoly. Having jointly ruled the country from April 2022 to August 2023, the two parties are playing ball again.

A duopolistic political market or the bi-party system which is ruled by two mega players leaves the stakeholders – voters and movers and shakers – with a limited choice. If it isn’t one party or the leader, it must be the other. If it isn’t Hilary, it must be Trump. If it isn’t Trump, it must be Biden. Yes, the electorate can choose to vote for a third party, but their choice will not bear upon the political outcome.

Hence, during the 1990s, in a game of musical chairs the PPP and the PML-N took turns in the exercise of power. In 1990, the PPP government, which was voted to power in 1988, was sacked only to bring the PML-N into the saddle. In 1993, the PML-N government was shown the door only to induct the PPP into power. In 1996, the PPP government was dismissed for a second time to make way for the PML-N. But for the coup that was staged in October 1999, the game of musical chairs would’ve continued into the new millennium.

In the singular context of Pakistani politics, the duopoly meant the movers and shakers couldn’t afford to throw overboard both parties at the same time. They were compelled to put their money on one of them, even if they trusted neither. Another implication of the duopolistic political structure was that the PPP and the PML-N would remain at each other’s throats, as both competed fiercely for a scarce resource – political power. A pact like the Charter........

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