String attached? No strings attached? The government has yet to come up with an offer acceptable to PTI. Although it is perfectly reasonable to expect the state to have an eye on the big picture and be magnanimous enough to work towards a political consensus, the fact that the recent past has seen PTI reject offer after offer to engage speaks volumes about the skewed priorities of them all. Only a day after the former prime minister and PML-N President Nawaz Sharif proposed a comprehensive dialogue to navigate the country out of crises, the PTI dismissed the possibility of direct talks and instead endorsed negotiations with the establishment. It remains to be seen why then and again, there appears a visible inclination towards involving the military in purely political affairs of the country. Furthermore, if these leaders are in a position to rebuild ties with estranged quarters, why can’t they show the same forgiveness towards those supposed to share the stage with them? Why bother getting worried about the need to truly represent the people when they can all remain fixated on the much easier path: a self-serving one? It is not a difficult conclusion to draw. Without compromise, that too, in light of the persistent rejection of rival parties as legitimate actors, it is evident that the PTI wishes for the impasse to persist. If economic and social stability is what these politicians sought, shouldn’t they have realized the need to spell an end to the freefall of the democratic order and let a fresh approach involving course correction lead the way? Of course, the treasury does need to pull the brakes on political coercion, but does the PTI voter not expect the leaders they voted for to direct some attention their way? Can’t a party that claims to have a finger on the pulse of the nation find it among itself to eye negotiation and dialogue instead of provoking the proverbial bear? From Karachi to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the entire country is suffering from fires raging on the financial, security, and social front. PTI could very well stay in the news cycle if it shows a willingness to talk to other political forces. Imran Khan-led party could, for a change, examine the prospects of changing strategies in line with the cliché – politics is the art of the possible. *