- Amid controversy and conspiracy
So, Nawaz finally lets at least one cat out of the bag. He’s back and, along with facing the reference, he’ll personally spearhead a ‘movement for rule of law’. Rattled by Imran’s ‘not-out’, he’s now shed some of the immediate post-Panama verdict ambiguity and is openly badmouthing the superior judiciary. The honourable chief justice, too, leveraged a seminar keynote address to let his own thoughts out about politicisation of the courts and/or, as part of the press called it, the judicialisation of politics. Other sections of the press, this space included, warned of just such trivialisation of a delicate political discourse when politicians themselves forsook parliament and dragged political matters into the courts.
Now the political situation is far more complicated. What does Nawaz really mean, for example, by a ‘movement for rule of law’? PML-N bigwigs have already come dangerously close to ‘scandalising’ the courts and invoking the dreaded contempt of court clause. Going forward, as the Daniyal Azizs and Talal Chaudhrys of the party not so eloquently spelled out, they see a ‘script’ behind Nawaz’s ouster and Imran’s exoneration, which means a collision with the courts is in the offing. Anything less would mean Nawaz is stepping back; and it’s not like he’s not done it before.
Hanging in the balance, as always, is the lot of the common man. Remember, the politics of Islamabad, just like the last Faizabad dharna and the expected Qadri dharna, has a direct impact on social and economic lives of people. Already the political circus has cost the economy, the people and the stock market to the tune of billions. With the election around the corner, the political mudslinging is only likely to worsen. It seems that, despite still running the government, PML-N is steering the country towards uncertainty. Since Panama it has stoked controversy with its talk of conspiracy. Now, it seems, another confrontation will dominate the headlines all the way to the election.
