The government was able to concentrate on economic stabilization during the period the opposition PTI stayed away from street politics but clouds of uncertainty are once again hovering over the political horizon due to renewed focus of the party on protests and ambitions of some elements within the ruling coalition to take advantage of the increased numerical strength in legislatures following implementation of the latest verdict of the Constitutional Court in the reserved seats case.
There are clear indications that hawks on the two sides are pushing things to extreme for self-centred reasons and as a consequence the country and the system might suffer and as a consequence the economic conditions might not improve as envisioned by the authorities concerned.
There is no doubt that the two sides are entitled to pursue their political and parliamentary goals while remaining strictly within the framework of the Constitution and the law but interests of the country should reign supreme over party interests. It is somewhat encouraging that some saner voices within the PTI are insisting on discussions and dialogue to find a way out of the existing messy situation for the party as highlighted by the proceedings of the parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday where many of its members called for restoration of contacts with relevant quarters. There was also a suggestion that the social media should only be used for the release of the party founder, meaning thereby that it should not be misused for propaganda against national institutions. This is also in line with the proposition made by some incarcerated leaders, who, in an open letter to the Government, have expressed their willingness to engage in political negotiations to help steer the country out of its ongoing constitutional and political crisis. The letter, signed by senior PTI figures Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed, Dr Yasmin Rashid, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Senator Ejaz Chaudhry and Umar Sarfraz Cheema, told their own party that talks with the powerful and political government were the only way out of the crisis.
Their readiness for dialogue was in response to an offer of talks by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who always preferred reconciliation over confrontation for the sake of the country and the system. However, the remarks made by Chairman PTI Barrister Gohar Ali Khan showed the views of the jailed leaders have not found favours with the party founder and the group of hawks, who are sticking to their plans to launch a country-wide agitation after Ashura to put pressure on the Government for the release of Imran Khan. It seems the party is not willing to learn any lessons from its past mistake as every one of them added to its political, legal and constitutional woes and is once again preparing to try the opt-repeated tactic of influencing the course of politics through its street power and social media propaganda. As for the Government, the Prime Minister stands for reconciliation but unfortunately he is reportedly being counselled by some circles to go for a change in KP on the plea that the provincial resources were being misused against the federation. While the KP Government can legitimately be blamed for its material and logistic support to all plans of PTI aimed at destabilizing the Federal Government, an engineered change in the province would be against the mandate of the people. Despite allocation of reserved seats to other parties, the strength of the PTI in KP Assembly is still comfortable and therefore, there is every reason to respect its mandate. The Government must desist from the temptation to topple Gundapur Government and the PTI too should review its strategy. After its humiliating defeat in the recent war, the enemy is trying to destabilize Pakistan by sponsoring terrorist activities and it is time to foil the designs of the energy through unity and coordination between the Centre and the provinces.
