End of another exile

Nawaz Sharif’s another self-exile has come full circle. He is back home to the surprise of his own supporters, and a traumatised nation that is in a fix. The point that all legal obstacles were cleared in hours, and his homecoming was smoothened at a time when other political parties, including Sharif’s allies, are in a quandary demanding a level-playing field, is another riddle that does not have any simple answers. Likewise, the PML-N supremo adopting a conciliatory tone with the powerful civil-military establishment after condemning them from the pulpit for years has raised many eyebrows. There are some genuine soul-searching questions that are legitimate and are in need of answers, if politics is to once again lead from the front in a decorum of hybrid governance.

The three-time prime minister’s return, however, is soothing from the point that politics is picking momentum. Sharif’s Minar-e-Pakistan rally will go a long way in establishing his party’s withering popularity, as his brother Shahbaz Sharif’s 16-month governance was nothing but a disaster. To what extent the elder Sharif can pull surprises and fix the sinking confidence of the masses is anybody’s guess. In the same vein, the permission granted to the PTI for a public show of strength on the outskirts of Lahore near Kasur is a welcome development. The PPP and other minion parties, likewise, calling for general elections ensures that this pestered era of economic slump and political degeneration will soon come to an end. And this is what is expected if popular politics is to take roots and an undesired era of ad hocism is to come to an end.

Pakistan is on the cusp of an existential crisis. All political forces must be provided with a level-playing field, notwithstanding political cases against them. This point was strongly driven home by the PML-N itself, as Sharif’s conviction was ignored for reasons of proximity, and he is back in gear. Let Sharif’s return be a starting point for a grand reconciliation in larger national interests.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 22^nd, 2023.

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