Is Imran Khan pushing PML-N towards being more transparent?
A head on clash was expected in case the PML-N’s Independence Day celebrations and PTI rally were held at the same place and time. The prime minister has reportedly decided to hold the traditional ceremony with only 6,000 participants which would end long before the arrival of the PTI rally. In case the report is correct this would be considered a step in the right direction. Nawaz Sharif has done well to ignore the PML-N hardliners’ demand not to show any flexibility to the PTI. Any confrontation between the two parties could have led to unintended consequences, vitiating the political atmosphere and damaging the government’s ongoing attempts to build up the business community’s confidence. The move would however only avert the impending crisis for the time being. What needs to be done is to tackle the root cause of the issues with Imran Khan.
Imran Khan too needs to avoid upping the ante. Taking a leaf out of the settlement between the protagonists in Afghanistan, brokered by Secretary Kerry, Khan too has demanded a complete auditing of results of last year’s elections. He forgets that in Afghanistan the decision was made possible because of foreign mediation which none would like in Pakistan. Further, the results of the runoff elections were against everybody’s expectations and a civil war on ethnic and regional basis was inevitable if the agreement was not reached. What is more both the rivals agreed on total auditing. None of these conditions is available in Pakistan. What is needed on the part of the PTI is to avoid recourse to the streets and instead take its disputes to the NA. Meanwhile it should pay greater attention to providing relief to thousands of IDPs taking shelter in KP.
There is a need on the part of the PPP to act as an honest broker between the PML-N and PTI. Nawaz Sharif should agree to the demand for recount in the four constituencies. The parties should concentrate on electoral reforms to make the next elections transparent.