Welcoming Imran Khan’s return to the mainstream

It is the turn of the government to reciprocate

The tragic killings of school children in Peshawar have traumatised the whole nation. The horror at the Army Public School has, however, brought the highly polarised nation on one page. This is a positive development though one is not sure how long it is going to last.

Imran’s presence at the multi-party conference convened by the prime minister has to be welcomed for two reasons. The PTI chief was among the most prominent opponents of military operation against the terrorists. Like the PML-N he too was an ardent supporter of talks with the TTP. His party, which opposed drone attacks, had blocked NATO traffic passing through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The TTP had proposed his name as one of their representatives in peace talks with the government early this year. Though Khan had declined the offer, his tilt towards the militants had earned him the nickname of Taliban Khan

The PTI had received the second highest votes in the 2013 elections and had emerged as the third largest party in the National Assembly. Its absence from the meeting would have been a blow to the national consensus against terrorists. His presence proves that the entire nation stands united against the existential threat that the country faces today.

The decision to join hands with Nawaz Sharif would not have been easy for the PTI chief. He had vowed not to leave the container from where he had been addressing the participants of the sit-in for nearly four months. All this time he had been vociferously demanding the appointment of a judicial commission to probe election rigging. During the period he had also led massive rallies in the three biggest cities of the country where he delivered the same message.

Nawaz Sharif has to play a central role in getting the differences between the two parties ironed out. It is yet to be seen if he is really willing to reach a settlement with the PTI

On Wednesday, when Imran Khan announced before a highly charged crowd of PTI’s workers his decision to end the ongoing sit-in, many among the audience burst into tears. Some tried to dissuade him from taking the step by mobbing his car. It was really a show of statesmanship on Imran Khan’s s part to let go waste the political momentum he had built up over months. It goes to his credit to realise that the Peshawar tragedy required putting national unity above party agenda. He faced the noisy dissenters in his party with determination and courage. He still stands by the demand for the formation of the judicial commission to look into his complaints.

The new situation will test Nawaz Sharif’s political wisdom. The desperation shown by Speaker Ayaz Sadiq to challenge the verdict of the Election Tribunal ordering the opening of the bags in his constituency indicates that he fears the revelations would incriminate him. After his appeal against the Tribunal’s order was dismissed by Lahore High Court he announced he would approach the Supreme Court to stop the opening of the bags. This looks fishy.

The PML-N had promised early this week to start talks with the PTI. Ishaq Dar, who was directed by Nawaz Sharif to initiate the parleys, had assured that his party would leave power if the decision by the judicial commission on poll rigging came against it. Dar had had also urged Imran Khan to postpone his scheduled protests till the commission delivered it verdict.

With Imran Khan ending the sit-in and calling off the countrywide shutdown, it is the turn of the government to reciprocate. It is in the interest of the PML-N in particular and the system in general to resolve the issue at the earliest

Nawaz Sharif has to play a central role in getting the differences between the two parties ironed out. It is yet to be seen if he is really willing to reach a settlement with the PTI.

While Pakistani politicians are generally slow on the uptake, Sharif is an exceptionally bad learner. It took him more than a decade to develop a modus vivendi with the PPP, which was once considered the PML-N’s traditional rival. For ten years his blood would boil whenever someone mentioned Benazir Bhutto’s name. Finally his minions cooked up cases against her. BB was thus made to run from pillar to post till she finally decided to go into voluntary exile. A little later Nawaz Sharif too was overthrown and imprisoned and subsequently sent into exile by Musharraf. It took Sharif many more years of hardships to realise the need for tolerating political rivals.

Sharif needs to take a number of steps to build mutual confidence. Talks between the nominees of the two parties should lead to the formation of the judicial commission

Nawaz Sharif now faces another politician who has challenged the PML-N in Punjab, the current power base of the party. The PML-N leaders have again forgotten the lessons that they claimed they had learnt in jails during the Musharraf military rule. They failed to pay heed to Khan when he demanded investigation into four constituencies.

Nawaz Sharif instead decided to browbeat the PTI leader. Three ministers we given the task to continue issuing provocative statements against him. Nawaz Sharif meanwhile pretended not to take any notice of Khan. The tactics were obviously not aimed at promoting goodwill. An abrasive Khan consequently decided to pay Nawaz Sharif in kind.

This led to the complaints that the PTI chief was employing unparliamentary language. The charge failed to convince many. It was pointed out that Shahbaz Sharif had said worse things about Asif Ali Zardari when the latter was the president of the country.

Mian Nawaz Sharif has done well to rein in the three ministers. This had to be done as they were seen to have gone overboard while trying to fulfil the mission assigned to them. Sharif needs to take a number of steps to build mutual confidence. Talks between the nominees of the two parties should lead to the formation of the judicial commission. The PML-N must be ready to sacrifice, if needed, its speaker and a couple of ministers.

The PML-N would be a loser if it was to treat Imran Khan as a vanquished foe. In case it does so it might lose the support of many in the opposition. Nobody wants a renewal of confrontation at a time when the country faces the threat to its existence posed by the terrorists.

Once the judicial commission is framed Imran Khan also needs to return to the National Assembly. This will ensure that the required electoral reforms are in place at the earliest.