Amir Mateen
Islamabad: Political brinkmanship seems to be lingering on. Just when we thought the PML(N)-PTI impasse was close to getting resolved the negotiations went two steps backward.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif continued his practice of attending the Parliament whenever he is in trouble. We could not tell from his face if he was disturbed. He has got face that should keep him away from the game of poker where people judge your hand from face expressions. Nawaz has got a transparent face. Normally, one can judge whether he is happy or disturbed from his face – even from a distant Press Gallery. Somehow we could not discern any traces of disturbance on his face. Either he had developed poker skills or he was genuinely at ease. This kept us busy wondering in the Press Gallery why he was not disturbed.
It did not make sense. Anybody who came to Parliament should have been disturbed while meandering his way through layers of gun-toting uniformed people, barbed wires and countless security checks with thousands of agitators looking for an opportunity to pounce at you. And this was not a scene from Gaza but the Parliament of Pakistan. And those sitting outside too wanted to sit inside this building but only with a bigger number with control of the government. That they were doing it through street tactics using un-parliamentary language had everybody inside furious.
Sheikh Rashid was heard saying before TV cameras that they would not talk to the government until “the dog was taken out of the well.” Imran Khan called Khursheed Shah, who is known to be the most polite leader of the opposition ever, personal secretary of Nawaz Sharif. Imran has introduced a whole new lexicon of political vocabulary calling people ‘Oay-this-Oaay-that’. And here was a person who was aspiring for the office of the Prime Minister. What manners do they teach at Aitcheson, Oxford and the posh Zaman Park, Balochistan’s Dostain Domki was heard asking in the lobbies!  While his own children live with their well-mannered mom, Imran is accused of spoiling a whole generation of his youthful supporters here. Even Imran’s close aides admit they might lose some conservative support because of this kind of uncouth mannerism. The Skipper will have to do lots of explaining if he ever comes to the Parliament again. Forget his bravado, the PTI is yet to file its resignations.
So it made sense when the entire political spectrum in the National Assembly got on its feet to condemn Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri for their “blackmailing.” Tehmina Daultana was at her shrieking best to “let Imran Khan know that a few thousand agitators can’t dictate the Parliament which represents 180 million Pakistanis.” She had a point when she asked who would bring about the so-called revolution – Chaudhary Shujaat, Sheikh Rasheed, Shah Mahmood Qureshi or Jahangir Tareen. Aftab Sherpao smelled a larger conspiracy in the joint strategy of Imran and Tahirul Qadri. It was too much of a coincidence that they started their rallies together; reached Islamabad together and then broke into the Red Zone simultaneously. Sherpao’s party is one of the leading contenders for KP chief ministership while Pervez Khattak dances away his time in Islamabad. One party leader after another stood up to vent his spleen at Imran-Qadri duo. It was ironic that Ejazul Haq stood up to champion the cause of democracy. The pro-democracy talkathon culminated in a resolution read by Mahmood Khan Achakzai. The chaddar-clad Pashtun condemned the forces out to undermine the Parliament and democracy.
Perhaps this rare across-the-board political unanimity against Imran Khan was one of the reasons why Nawaz Sharif seemed so calm. Others thought that Nawaz was confident that he has got the full support of Rawalpindi. The khakis might just be equally weary of the maverick Imran who seemed up against every institution from the Supreme Court to the Election Commission. That Imran took a dig at Nawaz for hiding behind army-wallas might have been noticed. Whatever the case, all of this had definitely undermined the civilian political class as a whole. Thanks to Imran, no civilian government can afford to assert an independent domestic or foreign agenda. It remains questionable whether Imran understands the gravity of the situation happening around us in the region or the power realignment in the Middle East. While he warned US ambassador to back off in a public meeting, he might just be leading us to an international trap. This was hardly the time to have an unstable Pakistan.
Somehow, both sides seemed to have hardened their positions after a day of peace overtures. Imran seemed to have made it a choice between “azaadi ya maut”-whatever that means. A manifestation of growing conflict came forth when Imran got up on the stage to warn police officers by name. Rumour was that the government has changed Islamabad’s IG because he had refused to crack down on the agitators. We can’t say whether he postponed the plan after Imran’s tough resistance or the plan did not exist in the first place. We were told that the IG was changed because he failed to cordon off the Cabinet Block opening of the Cabinet. Plus he did not have a contingency plan if the push came to the shove at some stage.
Interestingly, Chaudhry Nisar was missing again during all this mess related to his ministry. He was not spotted ever since the government backed out of his warning about not letting the agitators enter the Red Zone. May be he was angry again, perhaps not. There was no way to find out about the ever-elusive Interior Minister.
The big news was that Nawaz Sharif did not deliver his expected speech. But then there was nothing to say as things kept going from bad to worse. Perhaps Nawaz Sharif does not care because he has prepared himself for the worse. His aides say that one thing is sure: he will not withdraw just like that, no Kakar moment. That should make things difficult for Imran Khan and everybody else.
The News
August 22, 2014