Mending fences
Thankfully Nawaz Sharif responded to the Commission’s findings with grace. Hopefully the more belligerent and outspoken of his ministers, especially the Khawajas, will also realise the importance of prudence over point scoring. For now, though, the kitchen cabinet has clearly calculated on keeping the higher moral ground. Interior Minister Ch Nisar, it is said, is top among those calling for still not taking PTI lightly, and that governance more than the Commission’s green light will decide the next elections. This is not the first time the Khawajas and Ch Nisar have been on the opposite end of the policy spectrum, of course, so it will be important to keep the close advisors from fighting again.
For Imran, this is understandably in a particularly painful bind. He must stick by his word and accept the verdict. Yet analysts are beginning to raise pointed questions that Imran might not be able to stand behind, even if some in his party are openly condoning them. Even if evidence did not back ‘wilful’ rigging, according to some analysts, there were still far too many irregularities for the clean chit. However, if PTI suddenly takes this line as official policy, it will be taken as yet another summersault.
There is also the matter of other parties that cried foul but were also, like PTI, unable to provide necessary evidence. The line that they let it go for the sake of the democratic system no longer holds after the Commission. Surely they did not withhold any information from the Commission in the larger interest of democratic transition. Therefore, even if the verdict defangs PTI for the time being, some political friction will continue. It is now for all concerned parties to display the kind of maturity that a working democracy really needs. The government has expressed the willingness to proceed smoothly. PTI should respond in kind, and from here lend support to parliamentary efforts to reform the electoral system. Anything less will lead to more political paralysis, and the one not working to mend fences will be the one hurting the country and the people.
