The world watches intently as Pakistan slides further and further into the depths of political turmoil-our dysfunction has even attracted attention from the US, particularly one Congressman who seems especially invested in the “political victimisation” of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf. Far from thriving, democracy in Pakistan hangs by a single flimsy thread that might just come undone if the parliament continues to ignore the Supreme Court’s ruling about elections in Punjab. The coalition-led government has shown no signs of budging so far, fearing that they might lose if they go to the polls against the popular Khan. But their reluctance to hold elections-in an election year no less-will inevitably drain their political capital and set a dangerous precedent for future governments to use any number of pretexts to delay elections when they know they cannot win. It benefits the government politically to hold them off as long as it possibly can as it tries to dig itself out of Pakistan’s economic crisis and its lacklustre domestic performance. But politics and the economy are tied at the hip and there is no way to achieve financial stability when the country is in as much political chaos as it is now. A dramatic no-confidence vote ousted Khan from the government just a year ago, sparking an embittered battle between his party and the coalition as he wriggles his way into power again. There have been instances of police clashing with PTI protestors for weeks on end, a polarisation so deep that each faction sees no validity in the other’s arguments. But the truth is that the fundamentals of the system in Pakistan, beneath the intense political tug of war, remain the same. The free press has been under attack for decades and democracy has never really taken root in Pakistan. This is a country where civil institutions are ultimately powerless in the face of darker forces. This was true of Khan’s party when it was in power and it is true of Sharif’s government now. The needs of the average Pakistani-who continue to pay the price for the country’s continued political instability-always get lost in the crossfire. *