Every passing day is pushing us a few inches away from clarity. On Monday, Islamabad High Court suspended the victory notification of three candidates in the federal capital in the wake of appeals filed by PTI-back independent candidates in these constituencies. A stone’s throw away in Rawalpindi, the electoral watchdog is busy setting up committees and summoning district returning officers to investigate bombshell allegations levelled by former commissioner Liaquat Ali Chattha. What is, nevertheless, being celebrated as an unprecedented victory by PTI warriors on social media is the notice served by the election commission to PML(N) supremo Nawaz Sharif with reference to said rigging in NA-130 because of an application filed by Yasmin Rashid. While deflections continue in all directions with the same galore, no political party would be naive enough to deny that we are nowhere close to reaching a conclusive picture. Instead of staying true to its only mandate despite enjoying every possible provision known to the law, the election commission is not only standing firm on its highly controversial performance but showing utter disregard for the dire consequences. These appeals and legal proceedings should have been kicked off a long time ago. Between a never-heard-of delay in announcing results, continuing to hold on to final notifications of a large number of independent candidates and little to no action over glaring reports of electoral rigging, Gandhi’s three monkeys believe the sandstorm would eventually pass if they choose to believe it does not exist. How on God’s green earth can the nation expect the lower house to meet a quorum when half of its members still need to receive an official declaration of their victory? Furthermore, many of those who seem ready to walk through the grand hallway have not yet satisfied their rivals that they won the round, fair and square. ECP cannot afford to sleep at the wheel. All that the country needs right now can only be ensured if it feels confident in its mandate being given due respect. *