And stale war cries
Encouraged by its rally in Islamabad, the PTI has announced it would hold a series of public meetings beginning with one in Lahore on Sunday. After this, Imran Khan would hold gatherings in Sindh to campaign against corruption. Jamaat-e-Islami – which is too small a party to match the public performance of the PTI, which is its current ally – held a mini sit-in on the Mall in Lahore and later announced a countrywide campaign against corruption. Nawaz Sharif who had flown into London last week for medical treatment has now decided to beard the lion in its own den by announcing a series of public rallies in KP to be followed by similar exercises in Sindh where mercury is currently hovering between 38-41 degrees Celsius.
With the government passing through the third year of its tenure, the battle cries in public meetings and sit–ins are entirely out of season. When the issue of the Panama leaks surfaced, the best course for the Prime Minister was to take the Parliament into confidence. As usual he continued to shun the forum allowing the bigmouths in the PMLN to muddy the waters. Even now there is time and a real need to go back to the National Assembly instead of indulging in a competition in rabble rousing. The PMLN being the party in power is going to be the biggest loser in the ongoing mud fest. Whatever opinion one might hold about PTI’s politics Nawaz Sharif is no match for Imran Khan in pulling the crowds. The PTI has however to realize that in the no-holds-barred fight the credibility of the entire political elite of which its leadership is a part is going to be at stake.
PMLN leaders like Ch Nisar have already alienated the opposition parties through their holier-than-thou attitude. Before the ruling party finds itself even more alienated in Parliament than in August 2014, Nawaz Sharif needs to call off public meetings and settle the matters in Parliament.
