'Pak politicians are like "errant schoolboys" seeking elders wise counsel' India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

An editorial in a leading Pakistan daily has compared the country's politicians with errant school going kids who seek the counsel of elders to sort things out among themselves. Referring to former President General Pervez Musharraf's recent visit to Saudi Arabia and his meeting with the Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, a Dawn editorial has raised questions over the involvement of foreign countries in Pakistan's internal issues and blamed politicians for inviting 'interference' of foreign powers. "Like errant schoolboys who need the wise counsel of an elder to settle their disputes, our politicians seem unable to resolve domestic disagreements without the help of foreign interlocutors," the editorial said. "If Americans, the British, Saudis, sundry officials from the Gulf and other parts of the world are not prowling the corridors of power in Islamabad, our politicians pop up in foreign capitals and centers of power to 'discuss' local affairs," it added. The editorial criticizes the country's top brass for begging for international help to resolve issues that has nothing to do with foreign policies and has no relation with international agenda. Referring to the continuous political brickbatting between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People's Party (PPP), the editorial said such infighting would help 'undemocratic' forces to destabilize the country and add to crisis facing the country. "We have noted time and again that the undemocratic forces in the country are the only winners when the politicians drag each other into a spiral of acrimony and recriminations," it said. "Whatever the disagreements between the PML-N and the PPP or the PML-N and the MQM or all of them combined, they should learn to settle their differences themselves. Otherwise, what's the point of a national leadership?" the editorial concluded.