Cynical times

There has very rarely been a respite in intense political activity in Pakistan, even during dictatorial setups. However, the past week has seen even the most astute political observer seem unsure which way the tide is turning for both the ruling party and the combined opposition. After the fiasco at Sindh House on Friday, with protesters tearing down gates, seemingly encouraged by two PTI parliamentarians, Prime Minister Imran Khan seems to have changed tack and has urged the dissenting members to return to the PTI fold. Apart from the fact that these members have been openly vilified by his own party members, PM Khan's near-conciliatory tone was almost immediately contradicted by his allegations that 'bags full' of money have been exchanged to get these members to vote – potentially – against the PM. One is not entirely sure what the PTI is saying: are the dissenting members sitting in Sindh House in return for money inducements? And if so, why would the PTI want them back, considering the corruption slogan it has raised throughout the past three years?

We have been warning that the political discourse has been not only unsavoury but also potentially dangerous. And we saw a hint of that outside Sindh House on Friday. It would have been the responsible thing for the PM to condemn such behaviour but somehow his words fell short of an outright condemnation. A strong message from the prime minister at what happened would go a long way to ensure things don't escalate any further. Meanwhile, there are rumours that the vote of no-confidence may be delayed by the government, in response to which Chairperson PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has warned that if the vote were to be delayed the opposition parties would in turn not leave the National Assembly Hall for the OIC Conference and instead stage a sit-in there. That is hardly what any government would want. In any case, a vote of no-confidence is a constitutional right under Article 95. It may not be to any sitting government's taste but it is part of the law of the land.

The government needs to figure out what it wants to do. Does it want reconciliation with its dissenting members, as it seems from the PM's recent statements? If that were the case, why it had to go into a virtual meltdown mode, complete with profane language, makes little sense. The government must also realise that blaming the opposition solely for creating a chaotic or anarchic situation may be seen as disingenuous when the PM and his ministers keep referring to their March 27 rally as a sort of answer to the opposition. That is hardly going to make the opposition back off. Needless to say, the opposition is all smiles these days but we do wonder whether it has any plan for what happens after the vote. Already, democracy has taken a solid hit in the country. We saw that first in how the 2018 elections were handled, and now with the political circus in Islamabad. Reared on years of anti-politician propaganda the younger people of the country are already sceptical of what politics means. Seeing it reduced to abuse on TV and allegations of buying and selling of members of parliament will do little to their faith in the democratic process. The PM’s tweet on Saturday about “crooks and traitors of our country” will hardly help matters. Such arbitrary badges of patriotism or treason only end up polarising society further. For such a young country, this is an unfortunate result of how politics has been managed over the years. At the end of the day, sanity must prevail – and there needs to be respect for both the vote and the voter. Otherwise, we are already very near losing the larger demographic of young voters to cynicism and disillusionment.