Daily Times

It seems nobody’s in the mood to back down just yet. The opposition has opened a Pandora’s Box, thanks to Nawaz Sharif, so there’s no way they can de-escalate without shooting themselves in the foot and losing whatever political relevance they have left forever. And the government, which was expected to be the bigger man, so to speak, in this confrontation, has also ruled out any possibility of a negotiated settlement. The prime minister himself has said that any discussions with the opposition would be a complete waste of time since he’s convinced that they are the worst of the corrupt lot in the country and deserve no room whatsoever. The game, then, is afoot. The opposition will do what it can to send the government and the government will also do its best to discredit all its detractors. Whoever blinks first will lose.

In such political confrontations, especially in such circumstances, it is usually the government that has the harder hand to play. One could make the argument, and indeed many so-called senior analysts have on prime time TV, that the opposition has bitten off more than it can chew by aiming for the starts and promising not to stop till Imran Khan resigns. But the government is also constrained because of the weak economy, particularly inflation and unemployment rising in tandem, and the average Pakistani is now clearly the unhappiest he’s been in a very long time. Then there’s also the sword of a second wave of the coronavirus and another possible lockdown hanging over its head. No doubt all that limits its options and gives the opposition more to play with than in ordinary situations.

One thing not many people are certain about his just which way this pendulum is going to swing. The only quantifiables right now are that the opposition has a few more mega-rallies to go, which are coinciding with government workers also protesting against high prices, and the government has promised not to give an inch to anybody that wants it gone. The atmosphere has become so poisonous that even the most senior government ministers and respected politicians from the other side of the aisle can hardly go on for two sentences without calling somebody a traitor or Indian agent. This intense eyeball-to-eyeball contest cannot go on forever. Sooner or later one or the other will have to go onto the back foot. And that moment will tell a lot about the political future of Pakistan for both the short and long terms. *