The government needs to end the stalemate, so do the protestors
Eighth day of camping out for the PTI and more than two weeks for PAT have put considerable strain on the protesters with some lying on hospital beds. The government has meanwhile got support from National Assembly which it had subjected to neglect over fourteen months of its tenure. The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) condemned Imran Khan’s call for civil disobedience and urged him to withdraw it besides announcing a strike against the PTI and PAT’s marches and sit-in maintaining that these imperiled the parliamentary democratic system. The US State Department also lent support to the PML-N government in a strongly worded statement saying Nawaz Sharif was the elected prime minister and the US did not support any extra-constitutional changes ‘or people attempting to impose it’.
The developments provided encouragement to the government which suddenly replaced the Islamabad Police chief for allegedly being soft on the protesters and brought in more containers inside the Red Zone. This led Imran Khan to call off the talks while Qadri lambasted the government for the moves.
The prime minister attended the third sitting of the House but did not address the legislators belying expectations that he would take the National Assembly into confidence over the future course of action. The prime minister is expected to be in the forefront for the defence of the constitution instead of keeping mum while others call into question the legitimacy of the Parliament or propagate policies that can bleed the economy. The PML-N government continues to waver and delaying decisions, then getting panicky and ending up with overreaction. While it has to secure the Red Zone it must handle the situation tactfully. Taking all measures to revive the talks, it must not provide Imran or Qadri any excuse to withdraw from the dialogue. The unworkable demands of the PTI and PAT and announcements like civil disobedience have to be thoroughly exposed. The prime minister has to speak up loud and clear.
