Daily Times

Runaway Bride was a movie featuring Julia Roberts in 1999. It was about a bride who would commit to getting married and then have cold feet and disappear. The movie attracted attention. Not just because it had Julia Roberts and Richard Gere but because it actually was inspired by a real-time story. This story was so similar to the concept of the movie that it was known as the Runaway bride case. The runaway bride case concerned Jennifer Carol Wilbanks, an American woman who ran away from home on April 26, 2005, to avoid her wedding with John Mason, her fiancé. Her disappearance from Georgia sparked a nationwide search and intensive media coverage, including speculation that Mason had killed her. On April 29, Wilbanks called Mason from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and falsely claimed that she had been kidnapped and sexually assaulted by a Hispanic man and a white woman. Thus the twists and turns on what was the truth behind this case fascinated the public for years as they found how the whole thing was just a story to get money.

Pakistani politics has many runaway brides and bridegrooms. They come to Pakistan when they sense a government engagement. If engagement is guaranteed by the best men of the establishment, they take the final vows, but if the best men or the Pindi boys are not giving their due diligence, these politicians run away to the UK or the Middle East. The present government of all and sundry is also going through these ups and downs of the excitement of both being in the government and the anxiety of losing it. That is why the cabinet, the coalition and, finally, the family all look in transit rather than having arrived. This flux is creating huge stress on the economy and the psyche of the general public. The million-dollar question: how long this uncertainty will last? The billion-dollar question: when will Imran Khan give his final call? The trillion-dollar question: would Bajwa go or stay past November? These questions themselves have question marks on them. It is a battle of nerves, guesswork and patience. Whoever blinks first will be the martyr. The runway is being prepared for some exits and some entries. Let us have a look at the possible “walkers on the runway:”

Nawaz is caught between sounding aggrieved and upset with the establishment to ranting against their injustices to him in the past.

The divided house of Sharifs-half in, half out. The house of Sharifs is definitely in a fragmented condition. Shehbaz Sharif selected by the handlers for this parliamentary ouster of the running government is renowned for his obedience and subservience to the powers that matter. The Sharif family was on the run a year ago. Nawaz went for a few weeks, which turned into a few years. His guarantor, Shehbaz Sharif, was also going abroad but was caught at the airport by FIA and brought back. Maryam’s record of saying the untruth and then doing the opposite was admirably consistent, as the minute she got her passport, she flew away. The problem is that Nawaz wants to come back if the delete button on his past cases and disqualification is pressed by the facilitators. That, of course, would mean that the younger brother will fade into the secondary position of previous years. Thus, the power struggle within is obvious. Nawaz is caught between sounding aggrieved and upset with the establishment to ranting against their injustices to him in the past. This neither here nor there approach is delaying his return and giving more C-Suite time to the younger Sharif.

The tug of war in the institutions-There is tension within and intra-institution. The refusal of Islamabad police to arrest Rana Sanaullah despite the orders of the session judge is a small example of how the law is being flouted due to top pressure. The real state of affairs was visible when a member of the government party PPP and a senior legal fraternity member Ahtzaz Ahsan on media declared that the COAS “Bajwa” had acted criminally by allowing Maryam to go to London. This line in my article, as the video in the media, may be banned but it is viral all over. This open and direct allegation of the taboo and “no-go” personalities is now causing tension in the institution too. The veterans of the armed forces have already come out lock the stock barrel despite being punished by withdrawing their benefits. This is the first time in history that this institution is getting more bashing than the politicians. This is making many insiders nervous about the chances of damage control. The courts and judges are also divided. The tug-of-war going on between the Chief Justice and some senior Supreme court judges is a reflection of deeply divisive power structures within these powerful institutions. Unfortunately, even for senior judges media and gallery playing supersedes actual improvement in the justice delivery system.

The “others” in the game-The miscellaneous are also the fringe players but there. They are the remaining dozen parties of PDM, the Bar associations, the media houses etc. They play the “nuisance facilitation” role. MQM has always been the establishment representatives who stand for and against certain parties or policies in return for their gains in ministries, in getting their crime-infested people or activities liberated etc. The Bar associations, similar to the judiciary, remain politicized enough to support various lobbies. The SCBA head is openly a PDM supporter and files cases for the “rights” of the absconders. Media houses are struggling to hold their narratives as Youtube and social media surges make them resort to strange antics. The others may not have a big role to play but they have enough nuisance value to create diversion and confusion when required.

The MIA (Missing In Action) leadership- The cabinet is also a runaway cabinet. 74 ministers and advisors and almost 25 have the position but no portfolio. This is such a big fact but the media has hardly discussed it. This supports the allegation that his government is all about positions. This gives credence to their wasteful expenditure of taxpayer’s money. This is proof of a lack of policy and direction. While the ministers are without a job description, those with portfolios are MIA i.e missing in action. The foreign minister is a runaway minister. He is hardly in his ministry and also withdraws from important tours. That raises the question that where is he. This cabinet has many ministers whose performance in six months is a mystery. The Commerce ministry seems mum and numb on the falling exports and so does the ministry of industry on the grinding halt in industrial growth.

The problem with the government is that though they claim to be in government for another year, their behaviour is flimsy, whimsical and almost jittery. Miftah wasted six months and is gone. Maryam ranted for the same period and has joined her father in the UK. This leadership in transit is a failed model. Inspired by the development of the Altaf Hussain model, they are mostly created and facilitated by the handlers. When brought to power, they think they are now all-powerful. They are then cut to size by their handlers by exposing their corruption. This brings them to their knees and they negotiate NROs to run away to their foreign saviours. That has been the repeat political telecast for many years. The handlers have now been for the first time cut to size. In the past Musharraf gave an NRO and finally ran away to Dubai. They become fugitives in their own country. Their houses, businesses and families are all overseas and Pakistan is just an airport lounge. A lounge where a loot sale has been announced and looters are all hopping in with empty suitcases and running away with full ones. But like the Runaway bride case, time is also running out. As the nation stands up, the shutters on looters are about to come down.

The writer is a columnist, consultant, coach, and analyst and can be reached at andleeb.abbas1@gmail.com. She tweets at @AndleebAbbas