- Act more responsibly while in power
It is time the PTI realises that it is the ruling party in-waiting rather than an opposition party. The realisation should lead it to drop its confrontationist mode characterised by an aggressive and at times outrageous outbursts. The party in power is required to act responsibly avoiding knee-jerk reactions to criticism or suggestions. For this it has to keep under check the loose cannon among party officials and lawmakers. Equally dangerous for the PTI are its social media trolls who continue to attack opposition leaders and media persons in a language often totally unacceptable.
Once in power, the PTI will be held accountable for any sins of omission or commission on its part. It is expected to listen to the critics patiently and defend itself calmly instead of reacting violently. Unfortunately PTI’s criticism of its predecessors was not always couched in parliamentary language. One expects the present opposition to desist from taking recourse to a similar vocabulary. It would be unfortunate if the tradition set up by the PTI was to continue to poison the political milieu. Despite what the party might consider provocations it has to maintain its cool to be able to deliver and to complete its tenure.
The PTI will be facing the strongest parliamentary opposition since 2002 with a numerical strength well over a hundred MNAs. The opposition is convinced, much as the PTI was in 2013, that the elections have been rigged and stolen. There is a need to try to remove the opposition’s apprehensions. A situation like 2002 needs to be avoided when an equally strong opposition kept the NA non-functional for nearly one year through noisy protests against the Legal Framework Order (LFO), forcing the government to hold talks with it.
There is a need on the part of Imran Khan to avoid the mistakes committed by Nawaz Sharif. A major blunder on the part of the PML-N leader was to give little importance to the NA. When the PM is not preset to listen to the parliamentarians’ grievances, they tend to take the issues to the streets. Improving his own past record Imran Khan should regularly attend NA sessions.
