Troubled times

Lahore protest at least, scheduled for Dec 15, needs to be put off till progress is made in talks between govt & PTI

The PTI’s insistence on shutting down the country created considerable disruption in Karachi on December 12, with much of life disturbed for millions of people in the country’s largest city. Many were unable to attend schools, others shut in within their homes for fear of any possible violence. The economic costs of the action have yet to be calculated. Fortunately, violence did not break out, but things could so easily have been different. The environment created made it possible for some incident or the other to occur as was the case in Faisalabad. The line taken by the PTI is not a comforting one.

This is especially true since the government has already announced that it is making attempts to set up the judicial commission demanded by the PTI to investigate last year’s election and its allegations of rigging. We would expect patience in the interests of the country, and some time granted to the government to look into the establishment of this body.

The Lahore protest at least, scheduled for December 15, needs to be put off until some progress is made in the dialogue between the government and the PTI. There has already been an indication from the PML-N that it is prepared to be flexible.

What is essential is that damage is not caused to our country. Certainly, we all want our electoral process to be fair and transparent. To achieve this, it is vital that the right attitude be adopted by all parties involved. The PTI needs to rethink its strategy and find a way to reach its goal of introducing electoral reform and investigating alleged electoral rigging without disrupting the country or putting in jeopardy the political system within it. We have seen too much turbulence already since August this year. We cannot really afford more. All sides need to show flexibility and need to put the interests of the country and its people ahead of all other concerns. This is the most vital need of all. The focus should be on ensuring we move towards this and avoid further damage to our cities and their residents.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2014.

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