Hindsight is 20/20

If too little, too late had a mascot, PTI founder Imran Khan’s latest statement that he is a politician who is “open for dialogue” and is “ready to talk” could be it. “For the last 19 months I’ve been saying that I’m ready to talk ... I’m a politician”, Imran told journalists on Friday in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail. There is no doubt that dialogue between political parties who are the real stakeholders of the democratic system is essential for any democracy to flourish and thrive, but let us not forget that Imran Khan was the one whose reluctance to have a dialogue with his political opponents led to the complete breakdown of the political system.

Regardless of excuses of all hues, political observers had pointed out even back then that when the PDM government had agreed on an election date with the PTI’s negotiating committee at the time, Imran should have given his consent instead of demanding that the PDM dissolve assemblies and immediately call elections. Observers have reminded time and again how the PML-N and the PPP had asked the PTI to come to the talks table even when they were in the opposition. Shehbaz Sharif as leader of the opposition had shown his willingness to sign a charter of economy with the Imran-led PTI government but Imran the prime minister had refused to even shake hands with his opponents, much less attend official briefings with his political opponents.

The recent statement by the cornered former prime minister is a far cry from the man who said he’d rather talk to terrorists than ‘thieves and looters’. The PDM – and political observers — had cautioned the PTI and its leader that if their attitude remained such, things would not remain in their control. That fear came true on May 9 and after — and the rest is history we are living through. Interestingly, Imran Khan seems to be having other second thoughts as well, admitting yesterday that his biggest mistake was to accept a weak government. “Instead of a weak government, I should have held elections again. It would be better to sit in the opposition rather than a weak coalition government.” This is a different attitude from someone who was willing to go to any lengths to come to power and was even willing to give the former COAS another extension to save his premiership. The list of Imran and the PTI’s past apathy regarding democracy and democratic norms is long but in the spirit of democracy, if the former prime minister can see the past as another country, perhaps whatever new government is elected can do the same and Pakistan can finally see a newer version of a charter of democracy. A promise to stick to democratic principles instead of trying to vie for the blue-eyed status in a hybrid system of politics.