This question is being asked in all the key places where decisions are made and is a valid question as another PM, run by the same coalition bosses, on the same lines, offers nothing for the country which is falling apart, practically, with masses burning and tearing down all symbols of authority, provinces pitched against each other, political leaders shouting obscenities inside and outside the houses of parliament and the media embroiled in a self-cleaning process that may lead nowhere.

It was a healthy sign that the PPP accepted the Supreme Court verdict and showed Mr Yusuf Raza Gilani the exit door of the PM House. But now it appears that accepting the judgment may have been more of a political decision than showing respect to the Supreme Court as probably it was desired that Mr Gilani goes out, made a scapegoat and all the blame is pinned on his governance, or lack of governance.

Yet the fact is that Mr Gilani was just a pawn and a dummy who himself got enough room to improve his own and his family’s financial position but did not get the rope to hang anybody else except himself in all other key matters.

That is what will be true for the new prime minister when he is sworn in. So what will change in the country and at a time when the streets are exploding into mindless violence and the masses are screaming with multiple body injuries and pain, the government will again be involved in repeated bouts with the Supreme Court and other institutions in power games, aimed basically at political survival and securing the money looted and plundered. This would hardly be in the larger national interest.

All this will happen for just about 130 days as the next election and a caretaker cabinet has to be inducted by November so that fresh elections are held, as required, in February next year. There could be an adjustment of a few days or weeks here and there but by and large this has to happen. So what will be the great advantage in continuing this charade of inducting a new “Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain”, as General Musharraf did when he ousted Zafarullah Khan Jamali.

While these games are being played, the country will be standing still on many critical issues including the determination of ties with the US, the Nato supplies, Pak-Afghan relations on the foreign policy front and disastrous consequences of loadshedding, inflation and economic meltdown on the domestic side.

It is thus time for all the stakeholders, in the interest of the country and not in the confined and petty interest of political parties and individuals, to sit down and steer the country in a direction which avoids wasting time and moves towards some hope and some change for the better. Nothing could be better in such precarious circumstances than announcing the general elections now, instead of doing it after roughly 100 days.

Fresh polls will provide everyone to take a deep breath, take a step back from the brink and prepare for seeking the verdict of the people in a democratic manner, keeping the system intact and strengthening it in the process.

Petty politicking for personal vested interests would bring bigger disasters, put institutions in a war mode against each other and may ultimately provide justification for extra-constitutional forces to intervene.

No one wants it, but not doing something to avoid it would be playing right into the hands of such forces. It is probably time for cooler and saner heads to sit and decide, and decide now.