After a seven month delay, the Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaaf (PTI) is to return to parliament, which was convened on April 6, 2015 to discuss the prospect of sending troops to Yemen to support the Saudi Arabian military intervention there. The government has had an ambiguous stance on the issue and the opposition has asked them to clarify their position because the people of Pakistan deserve to know what the course of action is going to be amidst all the rumours and contradictory reports that are cirulating. There have been no attacks on Saudi Arabian soil from the Houthis or any other rebel groups in Yemen and there is no reason why there should be. The Zaidi Shias in Yemen, known as Houthis are engaged in a sectarian civil war against the Sunni, Saudi supported President Hadi. Saudi intervention in Yemen is actually an attack on Yemen’s sovereignty and is only exacerbating the conflict. It is by no means in Pakistan’s interest to become involved in a sectarian proxy war or a struggle for control of the Middle East between Iran and Saudi Arabia, whichever the case may be. The shortfall may be too great to be worth any goodwill or financial aid that Pakistan might receive from the Saudis. It is however, Saudi Arabia’s right to take preventive measures in case of future border breaches or skirmishes and Pakistan should provide a force to protect the Saudi Arabia-Yemen border with the condition of not participating in the conflict within Yemen. PTI chief Imran Khan has also suggested this, stating that: “Pakistan should act as a peacemaker instead of becoming a party in a crisis between two Muslim states… Pakistan was thrust into the US-led war in Afghanistan and the country is still reeling from the effects of the conflict.” These comments indicate that PTI’s contribution to this debate will be a positive one and it is heartening to see PTI parliamentarians returning to their constitutional duties. A democratic regime requires strong voices of opposition in parliament to be fair and viable and it is due time for the PTI to return to parliament and raise their concerns there instead of on the streets and outside Constitution Avenue. Upon realising that he could not pressurise the Prime Minister into resigning through inflammatory and unsubstantiated accusations and an economically and politically taxing “tsunami”, Imran Khan has realised that he must return to parliament and can only bring about change by ensuring that PTI parliamentarians attend, vote and speak out in parliament. The Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) deserves credit for setting up a judicial commission to investigate PTI’s allegations of rigging and not reacting to Imran Khan’s political attacks vindictively. The Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) has also facilitated the resolution of this conflict and opposition leader Khursheed Shah has asserted that PPP is committed to preventing the acceptance of PTI resignations. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) however, has vociferously opposed their return. Senior MQM member, Farooq Sattar has stated that the return of parliamentarians who have resigned is unconstitutional under Article 64 and that “the constitution also says that if any member is absent from the House for more than 40 days, he is deemed not to be a member of Parliament anymore”. When the joint session was first convened, MQM parliamentarians raised a great ruckus to protest the inclusion of PTI members in the session. However, MQM’s opposition of PTI’s return to parliament is more likely motivated by the conflicts between the party leaders and the skirmishes between party workers over the recent local body elections in Karachi. PTI’s return to parliament is a positive step, which all facilitation parties should be praised for, not just to end the political strife that has beleaguered Pakistan since the last elections but also to deftly and democratically reach a decision regarding this very sensitive issue of foreign policy. *