Back to parliament!

Politics is in a slippery zone these days. The landmark decision of the LHC reinstating 72 Members of National Assembly belonging to PTI can act as a great stride in normalising the tense situation. The legislators had resigned en masse the day their government was ousted on the floor of the house, as a pressure tactic to force early general elections. But that was not the case and the Speaker too kept on lingering with the papers put on the floor of the house. The fact that these PTI lawmakers had a change of heart and moved the court seeking their stepping down as null and void is a departure in PTI’s impulsive way of doing politics. With the judiciary sending them back to the parliament, the execution and way forward rests solely with the executive, and the PTI is in a win-win situation if their members are back to legislative business.

There are lessons, nonetheless, for the PTI leadership in this faux pas situation. Had it played the role of a responsible opposition, even after being shown the door, the socio-political scenario these days would not have been so messy. Change of leader of the house on the floor of the assembly is an established norm of democracy. But the PTI had a different spectrum to look at as it smelt a rat of foreign conspiracy, as well as powers-that-be allegedly having a role in its extinction. Even if that was the case, the PTI would have been on a gaining streak if it had glued itself to the parliament, with Imran Khan doing his best as the leader of the opposition.

With the LHC verdict at hand, it’s time for both the ruling strata, especially the Speaker, and the PTI to see light at the end of the tunnel in reconciliation. Returning to the assembly would have dividends for the PTI as it would not only have a say in formation of interim government, but the parliamentary resolution of not holding elections in Punjab and non-disbursement of funds will become infructuous. Parliament is the appropriate forum to realise the apex court’s belief that dialogue is the way out.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 21^st, 2023.

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