Mayday call

The PTI has decided to march on Islamabad. In a much-awaited decision, ex-PM Imran Khan has called for rallying in the federal capital on May 25, while reiterating that his government was sent packing under a conspiracy hatched by the US. This means countrywide mass mobilisation, posing a serious law and order challenge to the system in vogue. This is quite an unnerving situation and one which should not have arrived. Though the ousted dispensation’s list of grievances against the sitting government is too long to narrate, its principal demand is to dissolve the National Assembly and hold general elections. Khan is quite categorical, and aggressive in his tone too, as he said that until and unless these two demands are met, there is no going back.

So, what’s next? A simple calculus says that Khan and his PTI are unrelenting, and it is almost impossible that they will rescind their call for what they called Azadi March. This boils down the equation to the probabilities matrix as to what the ruling coalition is thinking, and what is its course of action. As far as inputs are concerned, there is a deep division in the ranks of the allies on whether to stick around or go for an early election. But the government doesn’t want to be seen capitulating too, and wants to save its political mileage at the hands of PTI’s assertiveness. Likewise, the budget is round the corner and talks with the IMF are in a crisscross stage. This surmounts it into a nail-biting situation, compelling the government to look beyond the prism of political exigency to ward off an impending crisis.

The situation is fraught with consequences. A month-long public rally with mass support has emboldened PTI. This is where the political currency rests, and Khan has upped the ante. But as politics is all about the art of persuasion, political parties across the board must play their role in defusing the crisis and opt for a solution that is amicable and constitutionally-ordained. Establishment’s neutrality has passed the buck on to the politicians to take a call. Pakistan cannot afford confrontation, pitched street battles and a breakdown of administrative order. The Mayday call is bewildering. It’s time to stop well before we reach the cliff.