‘Azadi March’: Government had the last laugh

As the stench of tear gas still lingered in the federal capital and PTI's wrath simmering, party chief Imran Khan adopted a conciliatory tone on talks with the government — a volte-face seemingly marking a departure from his earlier populist position on the matter.

In a rare indication of retreat, the ousted premier has quietly taken a page out of his rivals’ book and is now repeatedly indicating that the "doors were open for negotiations" but reiterates that a prerequisite for that would be announcement of elections in June.

This tone clearly militates against his populist rhetoric. During his time in office, Khan leaned into the most combative points against the Sharifs, giving muscular thumbs down to working across the political aisle with the "corrupt leaders" lest he ends up disappointing his rock-ribbed base.

But as he walks a careful line in his post-march pressers, balancing his populist streak with a more pragmatic approach, his stance on the sticking point seems softened.

Choosing between realpolitik and promissory politics, he now straddles the difficult dual message that the government must go — but that talks are also an option.

'Govt had the last laugh'

Lawmakers of the ruling alliance and political observers believe that Imran’s newfound appetite for talks comes after his long march fizzled out in the face of the government’s crackdown.

His characteristic drawing powers were heavily injured by brute force and eventually, after a long day of high heat, the government had the last laugh, they say.

Read More: ‘Azadi March’: PTI workers asked to converge at Lahore’s Batti Chowk

The optics didn’t look good, they admitted, but the anticlimactic conclusion came as a shot in the arm of the ruling alliance as Imran had to abruptly call off the rally, which he had earlier planned to convert into a sit-in.

“The government’s strategy worked and even key members of PTI leadership failed to reach Islamabad,” a government lawmaker said, adding that Imran's bid to throw the government out of gear sputtered badly.

Those who failed to make it to the designated spot couldn’t bring the kind of enormous crowd that the PTI chief was expecting. "If rumours were to be believed, Imran did not even let Sheikh Rasheed join him on the container as a way of showing his displeasure over the latter's failure to pull a large crowd from Rawalpindi to the capital."

Imran, making strides towards the 'battleground' for his final and decisive power show, couldn’t even reach D-Chowk – a location which is at an arm’s length from key government installations.

Moreover, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah recently told a television channel that the government’s measures not only worked but may well be employed to contain the PTI’s rally to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well if the former premier decides to return to Islamabad after his six-day ultimatum expires.

'PTI caught off ill-prepared'

The PTI chairman’s under-the-breath admissions continued unabated on Saturday when he announced that his party will seek clarity from the Supreme Court on Monday (today) on holding public rallies and warned that in the next phase, the party would come with “complete preparations”.

Speaking during a press conference flanked by party leaders, he said: "I just want clarity from the Supreme Court [...] I just want its protection, then you will see that we will take out a record number of people to the streets."

Ironically, Imran – just as the government – has chalked up the disappointing turnout to roughshod police raids.

The PTI chairman, while accepting that the fear of police action hampered the spirit, hoped that this would not happen the next time, especially after a decision from the Supreme Court in response to his letter written to the court.

He also conceded that the party was caught off guard by the police attack, adding he would return to Islamabad with proper preparations the next time.

However, he reiterated that the doors for negotiations should always remain open as he did not want war, but snap elections.

‘Fear factor'

A PML-N lawmaker while commenting on Imran’s press conference and the reasons he listed for the “unsuccessful long march” said that the “fear factor” worked and pushed the PTI to abruptly end the rally and avail time for the next move.

Emphasising that he was waging "Jihad" against the government, Imran called the opponents the followers of Yazid as, he said, they were the ones who ordered law enforcers to oppress protestors.

The analogy came as political analysts repeatedly warn that the use of the sectarian or religion card was extremely dangerous amid political volatility and should be avoided.