No end to instability

The country needs stability. It needs economic stability, political stability, social stability, in fact, all kinds of stabilities. However, all the stakeholders play their respective roles in destabilizing the country.

Do you know of any relevant stakeholders who are playing a positive role in the prevailing circumstances? I don’t, or perhaps I can’t see, any of the stakeholders playing a role that would bring stability to the country. Everyone is beating around the bush. The government was supposed to play a leading role in bringing stability. Unfortunately, it is busy with two things; quashing its own corruption cases and victimizing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

On the one hand, the government ministers accuse Imran Khan of creating economic uncertainty by issuing controversial statements. On the other, the government is trying its best to squeeze space for Imran and his party. The government should have a big heart, and approach the PTI chairman and bring him on board for the country’s economic revival. Where are the stalwarts who claimed ‘we would sacrifice our politics to save the country’? Don’t you think it should be part of your efforts to reach out to Imran Khan? Trying to kick him out of politics through malafide cases will not serve anyone’s purpose.

Mian Nawaz Sharif was disqualified on flimsy grounds in 2017. Could you eliminate him from politics? No. Why waste all your energies on it if you cannot and will not be able to eliminate Imran Khan from politics? Do you know what you are doing is actually ruining the country? You are annoying millions of youths. You are shattering the confidence of the country’s citizens in any system that has been left. The way manipulations are being conducted at different levels are no less than committing criminal activities against the country.

The ECP has recently done some incredible jobs. Despite all the allegations by the PTI, it conducted free and fair elections in many places. Except for the local government elections in Karachi and Sindh, the ECP’s performance remained excellent. However, now it seems to be under invisible pressure to fulfil its constitutional role of holding general elections for Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies within the constitutional framework. Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja has the opportunity to either write his name in history as a saviour of the country or be remembered as a weaker person who violated the constitution at the behest of the powerful quarters. History spares no one. Right now, the ECP and Supreme Court of Pakistan are the only two institutions that can safeguard the constitution and the country.

Upholding the constitution is the way to bring stability. If the federal government or anyone believes that Pakistan cannot afford to hold two general elections in one year, then the solution is straightforward. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif dissolves the National Assembly, and the country can go for general elections at the same time. It is, indeed, the right time to save the country at the cost of your politics. Do this, and your claim will be legitimate. Otherwise, everyone knows that the current efforts to prolong the PDM’s rule are being done to save ‘politics’ at the cost of national interest. I still cannot figure out what miracle does the PDM expect to happen that would make Imran Khan’s sky-rocketing popularity disappear soon.

If the PDM and all the powerful quarters think disqualifying Imran will divide or weaken his party, then they need to revisit their understanding of the peoples’ pulse. Whether Imran is in electoral politics or not, he will be the person calling the shots in PTI for as long as he is alive. So, there is no need to waste your energies, time, and resources to ‘eliminate’ him through one or the other court case.

Imran Khan, too has to revisit his approach. His policy of colliding with everyone is neither helping his party, nor the country. He committed one blunder after another, and many of his policies are self-inflicting. Resigning from the National Assembly was his worst political move, depriving his party of many key positions. Then boycotting the prime minister’s election in the National Assembly helped all the 20 dissident PTI MNAs to keep their seats. Had Shah Mahmood Qureshi not boycotted the PM election, the dissidents could have been disqualified if they did not vote for their party candidate. The caretaker prime minister is appointed through consultation with the opposition leader. Ironically, now Shehbaz Sharif will consult Raja Riaz, who was promised a PML-N ticket in return for his defection from the PTI in the parliament. Raja Riaz is holding the position of the leader of the only because of Imran Khan’s wrong decision.

Despite knowing how systems are manipulated in Pakistan, Imran ended two provincial governments of his party without realizing the consequences. Now he may have realized that Chaudhary Pervez Elahi was correct in opposing the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly. The way the PTI leaders and workers are treated in Punjab is because of Imran Khan’s own mistakes. One could have expected Imran would learn from his mistakes, but so far, he has not shown any such intent. The ‘Jail Bharo’ move is another shot in the foot. Most of the PTI’s supporters belong to the middle class. They can hardly earn their bread and butter. How can go to jail when it is clearly written on the wall that it would bring no positive results for the PTI?

I wonder who Imran’s political consultants are. In the presence of veteran politicians like Pervez Khattak, Pervez Elahi, and Shah Mahmood Qureshi, why is he committing political blunders? And who are his advisors? Not letting him tone down his approach and public tirade against the establishment? It is politics, and you must be prepared for a test match in this game. With a T20 mentality, one cannot achieve desired goals. Imran Khan must also realize that by discrediting the country’s military and intelligence institutions he would be paving the way for a disaster. He should have come forward as a fatherly figure and guide the emotions of the youth towards positivity. However, as I said, none of the stakeholders are playing a positive role in these testing times to help the country get out of the crisis.

The writer is a Managing Director at an Islamabad-based think tank Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies