Daily Times

The reports of his political death have, indeed, been greatly exaggerated. After taking many hits and getting very nearly knocked out, the Prime Minister (PM) is back on his feet again. Ever since the start of the protests and sit-ins in August, the PM had been found absent from duty at a time when he was supposed to be leading from the front. Even when he did bother to show up, he was left reeling from the backlash by politicians as well as the general public. There were times when almost everyone had given up on him, and he seemed to be on his way out. However, come November and the situation seems to have taken an auspicious turn for the ruling party. Multan’s by-election has come and gone but, fortunately for the government, so has the Canadian cleric. The only two things that have endured during all this time are Nawaz Sharif’s government and Imran Khan’s resolve to bring it down. Even though we may still be a long way away from the end of this political crisis, it seems that the PM has survived, which is more than we can assume about the PTI right now.

Of course, one can be forgiven for being surprised at how things have turned out. After all, just a few weeks ago, midterm elections seemed like a done deal. And with Nawaz Sharif offering nothing in the face of a relentless assault by the PTI, the urban middle-class had already started preparing for Imran Khan’s tenure as PM. But who knew the veteran still had a trick or two left up his sleeve? Behind the scenes, the ruler of the majority party was working ceaselessly to shore up his defences, and engineering just the right amount of rift within the protesting ranks. With Imran Khan alienating all other parties from himself, and with the crowds at the sit-ins thinning out, it was only a matter of time before something gave way. As it turns out, Qadri — of all people — finally foresaw the futility of the entire exercise, and hence decided to bow out.

However, before the PM can start to pat himself on the back for making it through the tempest, he must bear in mind that this is more a result of unwilling and/or incapable adversaries than anything else. His survival is largely a product of the complex implicit and overt compromises that will have to be respected for the rest of his term. Because of how certain events have conspired, including the non-interference of other state institutions, and the support of the rather hesitant opposition parties in the National Assembly, the PM can finally breathe just a tad bit easier.

Because of all this, the PM has finally shifted gears and seems to be in control once again. But, of course, Nawaz being Nawaz, every action he is now undertaking has a whiff of self-serving damage control to it. For instance, the price of oil in the international market had been tumbling ever since the start of this year but the government seems to have found a particularly opportune moment to announce the significant cuts in prices of petroleum products. Not only that, the PM is being made into a saviour when he is seen rejecting the audit report about the overbilling issue and demanding that the excess charges be returned, even when he should be holding his minions accountable for the fiasco in the first place. Also, the Islamabad-Rawalpindi Metro is alive and kicking once again and, out of nowhere, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has been bestowed with the unsolicited task of curricula reform, an errand that does not even fall under the institution’s purview. Meanwhile, the younger Sharif is busy coaxing south Punjab away from the PPP. Lastly, many believe that the review of the cabinet’s performance is but a ruse to sideline Messieurs Nisar, Rafique and Asif for their debatable roles in the crisis. In this way, by making the best out of a truly dodgy situation, the PM seems to be in the middle of pulling off a resurrection act that even Lazarus would be proud of. But what he has really done is give the public a competing narrative against the one being so efficiently doled out by the PTI. Consequently, Punjab is now no more in contention and, unless the Supreme Court (SC) goes out of its way, there really is no more threat of a general or even midterm election anymore.

This brings us neatly to analyse the flip side of the coin: the future of Khan and his PTI. Where once he stood fearless atop his container, threatening to tear away at the corrupt folks, the ex-cricketer now looks hapless as ever. Not only have some members of his party started to defy him on the issue of resignations from the National Assembly, he also faces a hostile bevy in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly as well. Even if a large crowd turns up at Khan’s call on the 30th of this month — and I am sure it will — the problem is that the PTI really does not have anything novel to offer now. The element of surprise has been crudely taken away and, from now on, Khan cannot ambush anyone anymore.

With all this in mind, we are sure to see a bit more of the imposed political limbo that, in essence, really is an ego contest between the haves and the have nots. Tragically though, the worst impact of this crisis is that everything the protestors wanted to see come into the light of day, i.e. electoral reform, transparency and accountability, will now surely be shelved, until the next crisis that is. Even more appalling is how the government has gotten away with the use of fatal force in the Model Town tragedy, thus reinforcing the ghastly truth that human lives do not cost a terrible lot in Pakistan.

Even with all of these somewhat auspicious developments, is the PM really safe? We must bear in mind how he survived the current crisis and we should keep a close eye on his actions in the future. See, the thing with Nawaz Sharif is that he can always be trusted to serve up blunders one after another, even when there are no real threats to his tenure. Rejuvenated though he may be, the choices he makes from now on will truly determine the course of his destiny. They say that a wise man can tell which bridges to cross and which ones to burn. Let us all hope that our leaders can too.

The author is a freelance columnist with degrees in political science and international relations