Daily Times

The idiot box is ablaze with all sorts of warriors aligned for a showdown after this coming Eid. The angry middle-aged leader of the youth in this country has renewed his threat of yet another ‘long march’. The angrier, elderly and revolutionary Mr Qadri has issued his ultimatum of an overblown and overly hyped revolution as well. In the middle of these two extremes, you find political orphans like the PML-Q chiming in with the noisier crowd. The rather vocal MQM, always ready to align itself with the shifting winds, has also decided to follow the ‘Sheikh ul Islam’ on his call. There is another heavyweight but only on the screens of the idiot box: the very famous Sheikh of Pindi, ala ‘train march’ fame, who has also thrown his entire weight behind these revolutionaries. The jury is out on what lies ahead.

Gifted analysts and panelists are painting all kinds of scenarios. Those holding a beef against the government are trying to prepare the electorate for the inevitable, which is squarely a stretch of their imagination. The former president of Pakistan and co-chairperson of the PPP, Mr Zardari, is perhaps beaming with his signature smile. The PPP is accused of playing a ‘friendly game’ with the incumbents. The word is out that Prime Minister Sharif is trying to knock on Mr Zardari’s door to get his input as well. So, the way this stage is being set and advertised on the idiot box through these so-called talk shows is ‘change versus the status quo’.

The poor public is caught in the middle as it has to put up with these two extremes. One end wants dissolution of the current administration and the other has to salvage it at any cost. According to Mr Khan, he is seeking a new ‘independence’ of this country this upcoming August 14. The Sheikh ul Islam and company are trumpeting a complete overhaul. When questioned about the most important detail, which is ‘how’, all of these players are clueless. The monkey wrenching and constant spinning, especially at this time, when all and sundry need to be in unison for the ongoing military operation, is extremely troubling.

When you ask seemingly passionate and otherwise quite politically dim Mr Khan or his compatriots what their real objective is, they stress electoral reforms and the retribution of alleged irregularities of the 2013 elections. The furious Mr Qadri takes the cake by saying that his objective is to reform the system and the first step in reforming the system is to get rid of the elected leaders. Then he adds the incident of Model Town to the equation and of course that adds more emotional weight to his otherwise questionable stance. Do not ask about the Q-Leaguers or the Sheikh of Pindi — they are just tag alongs.

So, when you start separating the wheat from the chaff, you come up with the usual thesis that the opposition, with its various grievances, is bound to join hands, sooner or later. The ultimate objective of all these folks is the same. Their rhetoric and their message changes every passing day with an indication that the ‘inter-dependence’ factor will be a common ground to build pressure on the incumbents.

The incumbents are in disarray and they are clearly not equipped to handle the pressure from different directions. Similarly, the incumbents also lack the ability to forge a reasonable dialogue with the opposition. Their call to the former president, who is very politically savvy, is an indication of their exasperation. The desperate attempt to reach disgruntled members within the PML-N is another sign that there is a lot of anxiety within the ruling party. At this juncture, the prime minister has to set his ego aside and engage the entire opposition in dialogue. If it takes back door diplomacy, interlocutors, negotiators, common friends and, yes, even the uniformed man in the GHQ, he better do it.

The interesting thing about politics is that it is a game of discussion, constant exchange of ideas and the usual give and take. You cannot succeed without taking your adversaries along. That, in itself, is the art of human interaction and negotiations.

Both Mr Khan and Mr Qadri are aiming for the jugular and they want the government to be packed up. One may argue that it is their democratic right to mobilise the constituents in their favour. Sounds well and good but there is another detail that all these hopefuls are ignoring: the country is in a state of war with the forces in action. Any derailment, any destabilisation, any deadlock, any more street violence and it will all weaken the position of the entire country and its ultimate set up. One can only give this simple piece of advice to the opposition: it is not wise to cut your nose to spite your face.

The writer is a Pakistani-American
mortgage banker. He blogs at http://dasghar.blogspot.com and can be reached at dasghar@aol.com. He tweets at http://twitter.com/dasghar