PTI's protest call
Cornered to the core, the PTI has decided to throw down the gauntlet. Driven by exigency and desperation alike, PTI chairman Imran Khan has decided to call off any kind of dialogue with the state and directed his party to gear up for a nationwide protest. Languishing in solitary confinement, the former prime minister believes that much water has flown down the bridge, and the 26th constitutional amendment, in particular, has come to jaundice the hopes of the masses in judiciary, otherwise thought of as the custodian of the Constitution, and thus the guarantor of the democratic order.
Riven with infighting, the opposition party will have an uphill task if it launches an anti-government movement. But the fact that the PTI has been pushed to the wall and that there is no political and institutional recourse to claim its due space makes the call for protest relevant for party sympathisers and alarming for the beleaguered government. The incarcerated leader's appeal to keep the protest lawful and peaceful is appreciated. The onus is now on the fractured party to make its presence felt in the political arena, an aspect that its elected legislators and stalwarts have not been able to dispense. This time around the icing on the cake will be the inclusion of Khan's sons and his immediate family, who plan to lead from the front.
Khan's equating the protest to 'second Pakistan movement' is expected to stir renewed interest and is in need of being watched out for. The fact that the proposed movement will kickstart from August 5, marking the second year of Khan's imprisonment, will come as a challenge for the ruling coalition that is struggling to put up not only a decent governance at the helm, but also at a failure in erecting a sound economic edifice.
The political mosaic has seen enough crests and troughs, and now is the time to bring in the PTI in the national mainstream in order to usher in political stability. Any continuation of revenge politics would be suicidal for the collective good of the country.