The endgame is not winning the ticket to the hot seat but holding on to it. One does not need to go any further than visit the PML(N) camp these days for its staring-in-the face manifestation. With the ground paved with landmines upon landmines left by the former captain of this fast-sinking ship (final bite of revenge?), announcing early elections might have been the saner calling. But what if those whose shoulders the ruling party used to reach the sky-touching pedestal refuse to budge from their positions. Key ally, the PPP, believes that the coalition mantra would reign supreme for the rest of the ongoing tenure. The grand architect of the opposition umbrella Maulana Fazlur Rehman has similarly chimed in: demanding substantial legislative changes before the election carpet can be officially rolled out. That assuming the mantle when the perfect paradise was tearing at the seams would not be a bed of roses should have been hammered into the collective conscience of Sharifs. And since it was them who stood to lose the most out of this decisive gamble, PPP’s reluctance to give away Sindh before August 2023 makes all the more sense. But political costs aside, the insistence on undoing the so-called damage incurred by the PTI when it bulldozed through the Elections (Second Amendment) Act, 2021, last November can easily be catered to, given the overwhelming majority in the lower house. Why then tie the drawstrings with the peculiar NAB law? What bearing would that hold in the functioning of the interim government and the consequent cutting of the general elections ribbon? Are those behind the wheel worried about the optics of passing a crucial reform in the absence of a functioning opposition bench? Because the rumour mills are already churning talk of the Nawaz factor weighing in far and wide, Islamabad needs to come clean about its intentions as far as early elections are concerned. Now is not the time to close doors and hold private huddles. At least, not something we could have expected from old players. Fiery statements about the timing to be decided by the Senior Sharif would only add to the confusion. It is much, much better to take on this precarious bull the parliamentary way. Let the ball roll in the Election Commission of Pakistan’s court, hop aboard the campaigning bandwagon and leave the administrative tough calls to the caretaker setup. *