So much for the dharna

Now to the Assembly!

Wisely, Imran Khan decided not to continue PTI’s dharna after the Peshawar tragedy. The nation needs unity, he rightly told protesting supporters, and circumstances just don’t allow political battles, at least not for the time being. Not attending the Peshawar APC, or not folding the sit-in, would not only have upset people, it would also have rubbed the brass the wrong way. So the PTI core committee must be credited with reading the situation rightly. Despite their disregard for the government, they have withdrawn significant pressure off the prime minister, who is now expected to deal with the terrorism problem with an iron hand. Now, in case he is unable to live up to the country’s expectations, he will not have anyone else to blame.

Some pundits will say, now doubt, that the tragedy provided Imran with the way out of a sticky situation. But that would amount to misinterpreting events. Granted, the dharna ran out of steam some time ago. But the jalsas since then, especially the Nov30 show of force in Islamabad, had clearly won him back the initiative. And as Plan-C rolled on, the government was seen conceding space in a way it vowed never to. Therefore, it would not be smart politics for the PM and his team to write off the PTI threat immediately. They need to move forward on the rigging issue. And in case they revert to dilly-dallying typical of the N league, there will surely be another confrontation.

Imran, too, must now show yet more political maturity and return to the National Assembly. Calling off the shutdown and then the dharna has won him valuable political points. Following them by returning to the Assembly and joining attempts to formulate electoral reforms will further improve his stature. He has already pushed the government to a position where they cannot resist reforms without inviting public fury and effectively writing themselves off the political scene in the long run. It is hoped that differences of the recent past will finally give way to mutual flexibility, and outstanding issues will be resolved in the Assembly, which is how a democracy should function.