The Raiwind march

Lahore High Court on Thursday allowed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf to hold its march on the PM residence at Raiwind

The Lahore High Court on Thursday allowed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) to hold its march on the PM residence at Raiwind. The Punjab government had assured the court that it had ‘mobilised all functional assets’ to ensure that the march passed off peacefully. The event is the latest in a series of protests organised by the PTI across the country aimed at the sitting government and specifically the PM and his family for their perceived involvement in the Panama Papers affair. The PTI and its leader, Imran Khan, are alleging that the PM is so corrupt that he must be divested of governance and an election held immediately, hopefully to return the PTI in place of the PML-N. The PTI would appear to have passed its zenith in terms of raw street power, and is wracked by all manner of internal disputes that have thus far eluded resolution despite the intervention of Mr Khan. The massive gatherings of two or three years ago have shrunk and electoral wins are thin on the ground. Forays into the hinterland of Gilgit-Baltistan have failed to produce victory in local elections; and the parliamentary performance of the party and its mercurial but still charismatic leader falls far short of expectations. To be sure there are bright spots in K-P where it is the party of governance, but elsewhere in the country it has consistently failed to shine.

Taking on the PML-N in its heartland is a calculated risk. Other opposition political parties have quietly drawn back from participation or even support, and a high-profile resignation by a PTI stalwart which is as yet unexplained leaves it out on something of a political limb. Thus far all the efforts by the PTI directed at unseating the PML-N have been fruitless and the governing party has never in reality looked significantly threatened. It is to be hoped that the march passes off peacefully, but peaceful or otherwise it is going to be a litmus test for the PTI and Mr Khan himself, not a man much given to searching introspection.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30^th, 2016.

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