Not much to gain
After the Raiwand rally, Imran Khan has decided to march to Islamabad after Muharram. He has called upon all party workers to mobilise crowds and reach the capital to lock it down, similar to the way he did back in 2014. Since the Panama papers were leaked Imran Khan has made it his lone agenda to use the ICIJ report to force Nawaz Sharif to resign and/or make him and his family available for accountability. The prospect has become an increasingly elusive outcome given the support PTI has lost from the opposition in recent days not to mention the lack of urgency and progress made by state run institutions.
PTI’s objective of keeping the Panama issue alive long enough to be relevant during the 2018 election campaign is the most likely outcome of this outing. The march is just an acceleration of efforts as the single day rallies and protests were not pulling the same crowd as before nor generating the required pressure on the government.
Getting the ECP or Supreme Court to fast track the process of accountability is also unlikely. The ECP has already shown reluctance to act on the references for the disqualification of the PM therefore they will not come under pressure and respond in favor of PTI any time soon. The Supreme Court has said the existing inquiry commission law needs to be updated for a proper investigation but refused to make a ‘lame’ inquiry panel and has not taken any suo motu notice either, suggesting they too want to maintain distance.
It would be most unfortunate if things take a turn towards a disruption in the democratic process due to military intervention. History has shown how such events can have catastrophic effects on the integrity of institutions which ironically is partly the reason for the institutional incompetence that Imran Khan refers to in his speeches. It is PTI’s democratic right to protest and one hopes it will remain peaceful while the government also does not create unnecessary hurdles.
