A year gone since the preponderant 9 May mayhem. The negotiated elections have given rise to a new government, but this event, still having ravaging effects in Pakistan’s political dynamics is yet to become a water under the bridge in its drastic impacts. The writing is therefore, still on the wall for Imran Khan & PTI. Despite the havoc which is already caused to the party, the military’s spokesperson, Maj-General Ahmed Sharif, on last Tuesday, just made it lucidly, crystal clear for Imran Khan, who is incarcerated, and his party, that the institution is not eyeing any heralds of clemency. Thus, ostracizing its once, stalwart companion, from leveraging any political engineering and leaving them to hang out to dry.
The sardonic aspect of rule of law accentuates its foible in, first, the occurrence of this event, where the mob was given untrammeled access to mutilate the military installations and then, even after the passage of a year, the brazen roots of this shenanigans are yet to be unraveled. Such is the potency of justice in this country. Hence, the bad blood between both sides is simmering and none of the them is willing to capitulate, the prints of which were blatantly captured in DG ISPR’s press conference. The once heavyweight amigos in the political arenas are now adversaries, at loggerheads, hence not complying with each other’s terms and conditions over the negotiations. But what’s changed in this whole year? Invariably that’s the iteration of folklores of 1980s and 90s, how the politics of ideology has been negotiated with power politics & how this has always been wielded in this country.
“Snagged between the upheaval of political maneuvering and the burden of public expectations, both PTI and the establishment face a formidable dilemma with no one sighting an easy escape.”
The situation gives the ominous impression that the glass is half empty, especially with the DG ISPR’s explicit acerbity against a political party which is at its heyday in its political stature. Though, hard to envisage where would this darken farce end. But any possible option is sometimes every probable option in Pakistan’s negotiated democracy, the extermination of this impasse is stemmed in the roots of dialogues and negotiations. Snagged between the upheaval of political maneuvering and the burden of public expectations, both PTI and the establishment face a formidable dilemma with no one sighting an easy escape. As tensions escalate and trust erodes, the need for dialogue and reconciliation becomes ever more pivotal to navigate the turbulent waters ahead. Therefore, the discussion on ad hoc basis should be the pavement of a way back to bring things to normalcy on the table for both sides to robust a consensus on their relationship and how it actually shapes the dynamics of coming politics.
Talking about PTI, despite its bigwig political leaders being barred from election campaign and the party being deemed dead, it still proved to be alive and kicking and reached the pinnacle in this election, against all the odds. To this country’s chagrin, the government is nowhere to be elected by the people of this country, as it is the ploy of wheeling and dealing under the shadow of imperceptible powers, making the election ultimately, a selection process. This is exactly where the PTI has been left with too big can of worms for itself. Being the product of political engineering itself, PTI even during its tenure fluffed in bolstering the roots of democracy in this country. Imran Khan never willing to sit and abide by the demands of opposition parties, didn’t leave any margins of dialogue for the smooth transition of democratic values. Concomitantly, making the establishment ultimate powerhouse to run the affairs, he was not only ousted from his power position as the PM, but it also paved a way back for the PDM to have a skin in the game with the establishment.
PTI now, has been surrounded with many conundrums, where its circumscribing hasn’t left it with many options to brood. Indubitably, there’s no denial to its skyrocketing eminence, however, for that to come, PTI already has paid the extravagant cost. Its stern narrative against the establishment is what has provided it with the manpower in the public. Any efforts of thawing its relation back to a good rapport between the party and establishment could lose them the street power, as it is the case with PMLN and its supremo Nawaz Sharif. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg, PTI still managed to be the powerhouse in KP, being able to form a provincial government on its own, but running the affairs at the helm needs power from the centre or the invisible forces, for which PTI needs to take stock of its situation on how to make the government work.
What makes this monotonous script enlivening is the fact that establishment as well, just seems to be clueless with its tactical book. History suggests that the face of every popular government has the backing of establishment, which has been the anomaly for the political engineers, this very time. Hence, establishment would not be very keen to share the burden of an unpopular government, having a questionable mandate. The maladies for establishment aggravate with the intractable economic crisis, and if it is fluffed to mitigate the crisis, it would for sure lose its face even more. Even the imprisonment of Imran Khan had a cost, which the establishment is paying unwittingly. And the price could be even exorbitant for easing the restrictions on Khan, who is the public’s pupil of the eye. And if it does that, how would it be able to afford the public reaction. Not only this, if it throws PTI under the bus for a protracted duration, which it hinted so far, who’s the next product of political engineering? How it would sustain its hegemony in the political stakes of this country, if the government would run smoothly.
Now, is the time to pay the prices for the inefficacious and disingenuous policies of both the stakeholders. PTI though, if it learns from its peccadillos, could get out of this trouble by stamping out its foreseen decision-making. It has to light the charter of democracy and the democratic values now, if it has to find a way out, if it sits with the ruling coalition government to negotiate on better terms, rather than again miserably falling to establishment to provide them an extra hand. Whereas, the establishment has to save its humiliation from the public, and for that they need to be an apolitical force. This is the time for both, PTI and the establishment, to learn from their wrongs and to make them rights.
