Let us be united!

Our political immaturity is going to cost us

Agitation-politics is trending in Pakistan which has serious economic and socio-political repercussions. It is true that Pakistan does not have a bright history of democracy and many institutions are still in their nascent stage that is why opponents of the sitting government are unaware of protest norms practices in civilized countries. But somehow it is a unique coincidence that the opposition parties – especially PTI – have become loud in their anti-government agitation whenever the country’s economic and political indicators show a positive sign. They cannot be directly accused for having anti-Pakistan agendas to nefariously sabotage national progress. But the lack of empathy, political ethics and sense of responsibility in-effect bring them in line with anti-Pakistan forces.

Imran Khan with his political, and “holy”, cousin staged an ineffectual and fruitless sit-in in the Federal capital which proved to be nothing more than wastage of time and resources. Perhaps Shaukat Khanum could have been benefited with those resources which were burnt on the streets of Islamabad. However this futile political exercise did impact the economy by creating an atmosphere of uncertainty and insecurity. Had China not been so close to the leadership of Pakistan there was an imminent threat that entire project of CPEC could have been aborted. In the ultimate analysis the opportunity cost of the protest, orchestrated by Khan and Qadri, had the disastrous potential of ruin the economic future of our forthcoming generations.

While Pakistan was still healing from the “dharna”, suddenly the documents from Panama surfaced and revitalized the slowly dying protest-politics in the country. I do not blame PTI and PPP because their death-rattle could have been heard from a distance therefore it, issue of Panama-leaks, was a perfect opportunity gifted to opposition to initiate and build up an anti-government movement, this time on the plea of corruption. They are trying their luck once again to defeat Nawaz Sharif by demanding his resignation. But amazingly the second protest-season of opposition is set afloat when the major economic projects are on the verge of completion, electricity shortfall is under control, prices of fuel and electricity are going down, CPEC is shaping up nicely, corruption is being weeded out and war against terror is in its final phase and steadily approaching towards victory.

Opposition-politics model of Pakistan is different from democratically mature countries. In the very first phase the opposition parties, losers in the election, start complaining about election-rigging, this movement slowly gains momentum and then takes the shape of nationwide agitation, aiming at destabilizing the sitting government, which culminates in the form of resignation-demand from the Prime Minister ergo a vacuum is created which is usually, as the history of Pakistan reveals, filled up, willingly or unwillingly, by a non-political force.

Leadership of PTI, third largest political party of Pakistan, comprises educated and enlightened people and no one expects political indecency from them, especially when they are raising the slogan of bringing ‘Tabdeeli’, a positive turnaround, in the country. But, to the utmost horror of the entire nation, PTI is promoting politics of agitation and, occasionally, vandalism. Falling short of people’s expectations in such a fashion may translate in to election-defeat in next elections scheduled in 2018.

Imran Khan should be a busy man these days as he has a tall order to meet. He needs to reform his party and remove the differences among its team members. KPK still needs attention and plenty of work remains to be done there. He has already announced party elections which need his dedicated attention and supervision. And above all election year, 2018, is not that far.  Therefore instead of wasting his energies in toppling Nawaz Sharif he should focus on improving his position in the next electoral competition. I am not privy to PTI’s internal communication but I have a hunch that imposters in his party want to drain out Khan’s energies on futile exercises and push him down to a level of legal non-compliance where he can get disqualified, for good, from politics.

This not Nawaz Sharif’s first foray into political upheavals hence he has been steady and calm in the political turbulences, which have escalated,  after Panama documents-release. He is enthusiastically pursuing his economic-stability agenda and seems determined to complete all the envisaged projects. Nawaz Sharif has, wisely and voluntarily, presented himself for accountability through a judicial commission. Despite all these moves the, insatiable, opposition remains unsatisfied and complains about the wide-scoped terms of references (TORs). I am not qualified to plead Nawaz Sharif’s case but I would like to challenge oppositions stance with two questions; isn’t it about time to highlight the corrupt elements, from past and present, and do away with them. Secondly do these TORs stop the Chief Justice of Pakistan from initiating the inquiry from Sharif family? Sane minds in Pakistan answer these questions with a “yes” and “no” respectively. Non-acceptance, of judicial commission, by the opposition parties is raising suspicions in the minds of the citizenry alluding to a notion that; either the opposition parties have lost faith on Pakistan’s judicial system, in this case the apex court, or they are worried that clean chit to Nawaz Sharif will erode the moral ground to demand his resignation. And he will emerge as stronger than before and complete his five-year term.

Pakistan is surrounded by multiple threats including international treacherous plots, as revealed by the recently caught RAW operatives. Domestic disturbances in Pakistan can add up to its vulnerability towards conspiracy-dipped maneuvers from its enemies. Let us not sick our country for political gains. It is time to heal the wounds and endeavor to make Pakistan a prosperous country. Let us not fall prey to our enemies’ nation-dividing tactics. Let us be united for the sake of Pakistan.