Need to review tactics
Finding that civil disobedience was unfeasible Imran Khan has revised his tactics. He has announced resignations by PTI legislators from the national assembly and provincial assemblies with the exception of KP where the party rules. The resignations will be effective after a process that can take weeks. With its ministry in tact in KP, the PTI is still a part of the system. The PTI chief has also announced entering into Islamabad’s red zone on Tuesday afternoon along with the protesters who, according to him, would remain totally non-violent. If the marchers are peaceful but decide to stay in the red zone for an indefinite period, they would be able to block the working of the federal government.
There is a need on the part of the PTI to review its tactics. The PTI parliamentarians would not simply go home after resignations. They would instead take recourse to agitation, a course also chosen by the PAT. Agitation is a double-edged sword and would hurt both the government and the PTI. On the one hand it would cause economic losses to the country and deflect the government’s attention from its tasks while prolonged disruption of public life would reduce PTI’s popularity. The party therefore needs to review its decision to offer resignations. The call for civil disobedience is bound to cause an economic hemorrhage. Responding to Abid Sher Ali’s threat of disconnecting the power supply of those refusing to pay electricity charges, KP information minister has promised to shut down power supply from Tarbela to Punjab. The ugly standoff would fan parochial tendencies.
The government must enter into talks with the PTI at the highest level to dissuade it from taking recourse to extra-parliamentary confrontation. The two protest marches have exposed vulnerabilities in the system. It is time for all political parties to jointly address them. The PTI should drop the demands for the PM’s resignation and mid-term polls while the government should accept the PTI’s other demands which are within the ambit of the constitution.
Comments are closed.