Democracy here in Pakistan has long been a game of numbers, if not thrones. And never more so than when elections are looming large. Indeed, our politicians often confuse crowd-pulling power with political prowess. This is as true today as it has ever been. The ruling PMLN has dismissed the joint opposition rally on Lahore’s Mall Road as failing to put people on seats. Which, of course, may not be a bad thing, given that this was held on the same day that the city’s High Court ran ads in the English press banning protests in that part of town. And even though the LHC made an exception in this instance — we would argue that an opposition seeking such special treatment from the judiciary risks allegations of orchestrated political opportunism. Be that as it may, we stand with the opposition parties as they demand justice for the PAT activists who were opened fire on by the Punjab police in the Model Town tragedy. That the Chief Minister is still standing almost four years on is a grave travesty. Yet where we hesitate in lending our support is to Imran Khan and his so-called explosive press conference. The PTI chief had promised to disclose details about the money laundering trail leading back to the deposed Nawaz Sharif. And he didn’t disappoint. Though even here we are uncomfortable with the presence of former party secretary general Jahangir Tareen, who has been banned for life from the National Assembly over failure to fully disclose his assets. Among Imran’s claims are that Nawaz money-laundered up to Rs 1.74 billion from just one of his private companies; part of an alleged 16-enterprise network. He also implicated elements of the Punjab police. Separate charges were reserved for Shehbaz Sharif. Yet it was only after dishing the dirt that the PTI leader made any mention of providing these details to the NAB and other state institutions for further investigation. And, for us, herein lies the rub. For we staunchly believe that Imran’s first priority ought to have been to hand such evidence over to the relevant authorities; including the Supreme Court. But what should not have happened was announcing all this to the media. If this was a vote-of-no-confidence in national institutions — this begs the question as to whether he trusts the latter to oversee the general elections. The answer is most probably not, given that he has not given up his cries of punctured tyres from the last time around. We are not calling for PTI or any of the other opposition parties to collectively boycott the upcoming polls. For this would be tantamount to openly inviting the Army to never return to the barracks. But we do call on the media to snub such spectacles which clearly jeopardise the tenets of free and fair inquiry. After all, the role of the fourth estate should remain one of opposition and impartial checks-and-balances. Where we do agree with Imran is that the Parliament has brought itself somewhat into disrepute. Particularly, with regard to passing the Election Reforms Bill 2017; which may or may not have been secured with votes-for-cash on the part of all the King’s men. Yet, sadly, we have been here before when then PM Gillani infamously said that his party would make a token fuss before Parliament about the ratcheted up US drone programme before forgetting about it. And, more recently, our lawmakers contested two by-elections on equal footing with the party of a globally proscribed terrorist. Indeed, the latter is set to personally contest the general polls. Sadly, if our politicians carry on like this — they will end up destroying this country’s long-term democratic health. * Published in Daily Times, January 19th 2018.