Daily Times

Bad news continues to pour in from the political front where those supposed to go the extra mile for the sake of the electorate are proving to be the biggest obstacle in their way out of the abyss. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister’s menacing threat of “a bullet for a bullet” underscores the latest wave of escalation from a party that is yet to back down from its aggressive posturing, hopes of de-escalation remain slim. CM Gandapur’s actions and remarks add credence to him being increasingly viewed as a mouthpiece of the opposition, not a head of a federation’s unit.

Between hurling derogatory remarks at his counterpart in Punjab and unprecedentedly announcing a sovereign policy vis-a-vis Afghanistan by overstepping the diplomatic protocols and Islamabad’s domain, he keeps sending powerful reminders of where his loyalties truly lie. Now, as these pages have previously discussed, a lot of this rhetoric aims to divert attention away from his own crippling governance failures in a province considered the traditional stronghold of PTI.

Just as pertinent amid the heated whack-a-mole is the rife sense of mistrust for him among the party’s leadership. But while the fracture lines seemed kosher during and immediately after the election season, it is high time that a seasoned politician entrusted with the responsibility of the lives and livelihoods of millions starts acting like one.

A flurry of positive economic indicators means stability might be in sight, after all, and ergo, sanity demands politicians committing to dialogue and cooperation to chart a path towards reconciliation and unity, paving the way for a brighter and more prosperous future for everyone. Instead of being encouraged by the wave of support in recent rallies, he would do well to wonder about the will of the PTI’s leadership to use this mandate for the greater good.

Why is it that something as crucial as national interests pale in significance in the face of short-term, petty agendas? When the ruling elite repeatedly calls on the masses to prioritise the country over themselves even when irrefutable evidence suggests they have been the only ones bleeding at the altar for far too long, shouldn’t the same wake-up call apply to them? *