EDITORIAL: Finally, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan (IK) has given the date and day of his planned ‘long march’. He would be leaving Lahore Friday morning and march on to Islamabad, leading a million-strong procession in order to precipitate a situation that would force the government to accept his demand for immediate elections.
He describes his protest march a ‘Jehad’. He says he will not storm the capital’s ‘Red Zone’ and is also uncertain if he would stage a sit-in there, suggesting that the march may be just a one-day affair.
He had been talking of storming Islamabad for quite some time but the date was not announced, possibly because of circumspection on his part about the pros and cons of that adventure – as the ‘long march’ would be his ultimate card to force early elections.
IK is believed to be conscious, rightly so, of the fact that his failure to secure government agreement to go for early elections may turn out to be a disaster for PTI’s political prospects in the future. There are harsh realities on the ground that he is being forced to contend with.
There are a host of reasons that tend to project IK’s ‘long march’ plan as a gamble. Three of these need to be kept in mind. First, the government is determined to intercept the marchers at the gates of the capital city.
While Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has repeatedly expressed his determination to punish what he calls the law-breakers, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif says the federal government would not allow the “certified thief” to reach the capital.
Second, Imran Khan’s audio leaks and his disqualification by the Election Commission of Pakistan do whittle down his repetitive claim of being the harbinger of Riasat-e-Madina. Third, the history of successive marches and sit-ins in the capital should be a clear message to him that this ‘long march’ too would not succeed in forcing the government to reconsider its position that the general elections would not take place before August 2023.
But there is a question: Can the country afford the removal of opposition from its democratic ambience? Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is presently the only political opposition and its disappearance from the political scene is bound to turn Pakistan into an oligarchy. In a functioning democracy the political opposition, both in the elected houses and on the street, is an essential condition.
Accepted that as it is by former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). At the concluding session of the Asma Jehangir Conference on Sunday, he expressed his views in a highly impressive manner. According to him, for example, the current situation of the country is so grim that even a government with 100 percent mandate can’t run the country.
“We are all responsible for the present situation. It is time to think above ourselves,” he remarked. The question is how do we do that? The answer is that both sides of the national political divide should rethink their positions and join hands to fight challenges, both internal and external, confronting the country.
As a first step, PTI should return to parliament and fight the government on its floor. IK is the most popular leader with the largest vote bank in the country. Therefore, his role in parliament would certainly strengthen the cause of democracy.
Insofar as the government is concerned, it should undertake tangible steps for actualization of its call for a grand dialogue the prime minister has been talking about for quite some time.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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