The reset?

EDITORIAL: It’s still too soon to tell, but the Lahore High Court’s (LHC’s) decision to overturn the resignations of 70 PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) MNAs could well hit the reset button that is now necessary to break the ugly stalemate in Pakistani politics.

It will still be important to debate and also quantify the damage done to the political process as well as the sanctity of the house by PTI’s juvenile pranks – first walking out of parliament and then withdrawing their resignations – but right now putting out fires that are undermining the very foundation of the federation clearly takes precedence.

Especially since the PDM (Pakistan Democratic Movement) government didn’t turn out to be any wiser; rejecting and accepting those resignations only when it suited them, and that too only to raise the temperature.

It’s very unfortunate that PTI chairman Imran Khan is still going out of his way to play the spoiler, especially since his party is looking to National Assembly speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf to bow to the court’s orders and reconsider his earlier decision to accept the resignations. His latest position, that he will not return to parliament along with his party because it has lost its “legislative relevance” not only makes very little sense, but also shows that he’s learned no lessons at all from the last one year.

It was, after all, his personal inflexible decisions that led to the resignations and also dissolution of Punjab and KP (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) assemblies in the first place, even though a vast majority of his own party advised him against taking maximalist positions that might later have to be rolled back.

He must understand that the entire exercise of the court’s intervention and pressuring the speaker could amount to naught if he continues to downplay the relevance of all developments that don’t suit him more than everybody else.

With neither PDM nor PTI willing to de-escalate on the streets, it is imperative to take this exchange back to parliament, which is how the constitution dictates settling of political tussles and disputes. It also gives both sides the only real opportunity that they’ll get to sort out differences that are preventing or delaying elections.

There is, however, chatter that Imran’s obstruction is not the only thing that might delay or even derail this process, because PDM is apparently in no mood to play along and is looking for legal ways out of following LHC’s directions.

That, if true, is very unfortunate. The country has suffered enough already only because the political elite has so far been utterly incapable of putting the country’s and its people’s interests ahead of its own naked lust for power.

The clash on the streets, petrol bombs hurled on police officers, picking up political workers without due process, ransacking the GHQ and gutting the corps commander’s house give ample proof, if any was still needed, that the country’s senior most politicians have nothing higher than settling personal and political scores on their priority lists; regardless of how all this impacts state institutions or the economy.

It is sincerely hoped that for once our political leaders will exhibit the maturity expected of them. So far, they’ve disappointed at every turn.

Now, though, the LHC’s initiative might be the last chance for all of them, across the divide, to pull their socks up and restore sanity and normalcy. If they let this opportunity go begging as well, they will have only themselves to blame for the wrath of the people that will surely come. After all, people can take record inflation and unemployment, for no fault of their own, only for so long.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023