Gearing up for protest

The country is swinging into an agitational gear in the backdrop of the passage of the 27th amendment. The controversial legislation has drastically altered the fundamentals of the Constitution and literally demolished the existence of the Supreme Court. The six-party alliance of the opposition, TTAP, is thus mulling widespread protest campaigns as it aims to restore the original spirit of the Constitution and resist any moves that come to derail democracy. It blames the sitting dispensation for capitulating before an autocratic order as the new amendment ushers in a new command and control edifice for the armed forces, which is unilateral in essence, and dethrones the judiciary making it subservient to the executive.

Though the opposition parties lack a clear-cut agenda, they have enough on their sleeves to solicit response from the streets. The resignations from the superior judiciary are acting as a clarion call, and have the potential to trigger a mass movement if lawyers' rank and file come out in support of the opposition. A case in point is Justice Shams Mehmood Mirza of the LHC following in the footsteps of Justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Athar Minallah of the apex court. The Bar councils and former jurists are already up in arms, and supposedly enjoy a mass appeal in resisting the draconian laws through which the government intends to undermine the judiciary by way of forceful transfer of judges.

The confrontational tit-for-tat politics in K-P gives enough credence to the opposition, as crossing of swords with the powers-that-be is the new order of the day. There isn't much that the beleaguered government could do, as its allied parties themselves are at odds with each other and wandering in darkness over their own political future. This dilemma calls for restraint and a new beginning. It's time for the government to lift the lid it has put on the opposition and bring the political temperature down by releasing political prisoners, including Imran Khan, and kickstart a dialogue for grand consensus. Mehmood Achakzai has hinted at it, and is receptive to the core.