Daily Times

The sensational political drama (laced with million twists and trillion turns) is finally behind us and the new prime minister has seemingly gotten busy with the nitty-gritty of his job. But amid heartening declarations, the glaring vacuum left by the PTI as it tugged on the skin of its teeth, clattered pots, lined its rank and file and orchestrated resignations en masse is hard to overlook. As far as the former captain is concerned, the wisdom behind a directive that has taken the nation by storm is still debatable. How he intends to keep his agenda alive while sitting outside the stadium, only his inner circle would know, because, in this goldfish-esque bowl, people tend to forget those who move out of sight!

Speculations of inner dissent are already rife with media spokespersons giving splitting statements here and there. Any tug-of-war between the MNAs and their leader would further smear mud on their legacy. Given the scars on the bloodied toga that would not heal easily, the party leadership would greatly benefit from opening its eyes to the ground realities: it can no longer twist arms or bulldoze sandcastles around, just because the other side is winning.

Nevertheless, to believe that Mr Khan’s successor would in no way be impacted by the change in status quo is to live in a fantastic alternate reality. Sadly, there is no room for such high spirits in a home whose skies are nearly always cloudy. To see a force with a lion’s share in the house walk away from the fight is no pleasant sight because what credibility can it now have in the face of deafening silence from the opposition benches? The PTI was expected to give the newly-minted government a run for its money, while some analysts had already crowned it “far more effective in opposition,” striking a deja vu to the golden era of the PPP.” However, by taking the fight to the street and tipping the boiling cauldron to the side, its Damoclean sword is bound to get shinier, mightier and frighteningly fiercer. Because every policy paper would be brutally shredded to pieces on television screens and in public demonstrations. Whatever battles were to be fought inside the building would now be there for every eye to see. And going by the track record of the last three-and-a-half years, our politicians tend to toss all rules outside the window when it comes to their reckless, dirty lockdowns. *