Political rallies, it seems, are the latest ‘buzz’. After the PTI’s mammoth rally in Lahore some weeks back, the PML-N held a rally of its own in Dhobi Ghat, Faisalabad on Sunday after making numerous promises of ‘responding’ to Imran Khan’s success at Minar-e-Pakistan. Whilst the turnout was nowhere near the numbers the PTI was able to boast for its rally, PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif was no less thundering and accusatory in his tirade against a “certain political party”, which he claimed is supported by the country’s intelligence agencies. It is no secret that the party he is pointing fingers at is the one party that showed Mian Sahib that his vote bank in Punjab is open to being swayed — the PTI. Maybe it was the ‘lion of Punjab’s’ uncontainable anger at the disparity in numbers that had him say that the intelligence agencies were ‘transporting’ people to partake in the rallies of the political party in question just to up the numbers. Now, we all know that this is a comical accusation. When the PTI held its rally at the Minar-e-Pakistan, young, old, professional, religious and liberal people from all over Punjab all stood up, switched off their daily lives and travelled to the centre of Lahore to hear Imran Khan speak. This was not because he was Imran Khan, a seasoned politician; this turnout was because they thought he was the answer to their disillusionment, their liberation from the quagmire that politics in Pakistan has become now. And it is exactly this kind of mudslinging that Nawaz Sharif seemed to be doing during his rally in Faisalabad. Criticism is all well and good, but when it becomes the only approach to your jaded vote bank, Nawaz Sharif ought to rethink his strategy. Nawaz Sharif was quite generous with his recommendations and some of them were quite apt. He said that the army and intelligence agencies needed to quit playing any role in the country’s political setup. This is a very welcome suggestion and should be taken seriously as army interference in the political process has hampered the nation’s transition to democracy no end. It is good to see Mr Sharif take a relatively mature stand on such issues. However, belling the cat is not a task many in the political arena have had the courage to undertake. As far as the ‘memogate’ scandal is concerned, Mian Sahib seems to have lost all poise. Once again, the opposition’s confrontational character is dominating the political discourse. Nawaz Sharif has issued a deadline of nine days for the PPP government to get to the bottom of the entire affair through the investigations of a committee otherwise the PML-N will move to the Supreme Court (SC). It is bad politics for the leader of Pakistan’s main opposition party to issue deadlines and ultimatums to the federal government on every issue. Repetition of this ‘tactic’ is bringing diminishing returns by now. Yes, the memogate controversy is a big one but at least give the government time to thoroughly investigate and probe the matter. Ambassador Husain Haqqani has come back to Pakistan and it is only befitting that the accused parties and their investigators be given enough time to plough through the matter. Patience coupled with less vitriol towards a ‘certain political party’ and following the democratic way of waiting for investigative results before acting against any misdemeanour may just help Nawaz Sharif jack up those rally numbers. Bitter criticism and unrealistic ultimatums are the same old political games that are unbecoming of a seasoned politician.*