Thanks

The worst-case scenario has been averted for now. The Supreme Court has asked both the government and the opposition to submit their terms of reference for a commission to probe the matter of corruption allegations that have been a source of so much political heat of late. Imran Khan has jubilantly taken this development as a vindication and even did a victory lap – conveniently forgetting that this is square one for him and actually a vindication of those who have been advocating such a line for the last eight months, and that it is actually the PTI brand of meaningless adventurism and its politics of vulgar abuse that have been the greatest hurdle to such a headway being made. Instead of shutting down Islamabad Imran will now hold what he called a day of thanks at Parade Ground, incidentally the venue where the Islamabad High Court had ordered the PTI to hold its protest. Despite all he has done, one can at least be magnanimous to Imran and agree that he has, at long last, done the right thing -       for now – and removed the tension and instability that had ground our politics to a standstill. It is certain that he would not have done so had the government not decided to take the fight to the PTI. The PTI seemed to be hoping for a rerun of 2014 when the government was passive in the lead-up to the PTI dharna. Imran once again did little to hide his by now all too familiar fantasy to see the elected setup go down as a result of chaos caused by his dharnas designed, in his mind, to invite a ‘third force’. By blocking off access to Islamabad and taking the fight to the PTI, the government showed it wasn’t going to be a doormat this time. Both sides now have the opportunity to calm down and reflect on what they should do next. The PTI has now said it believes only in peaceful protests. It will have the opportunity to show that today and in the future. The government needs to immediately remove the containers which Chaudhry Nisar, speaking to the media after Imran called his protest off, said were meant to prevent Islamabad from becoming a battleground. PTI workers should also not be subject to harassment.

The government’s greatest test will come once the Supreme Court gives more details about its commission. It is also not clear if the Supreme Court itself will choose the members and set their terms of reference or if the commission will be restricted just to the Panama Papers or will take into account other such leaks that have come before and after the Panama ones. Ideally the political parties would be able to agree on the terms of reference among themselves but we have already seen how difficult that is to pull off. Now all the political parties need to work constructively. For the PML-N that means it should not drag its feet to try and delay any probe indefinitely while the PTI will have to be more patient, a trait that has never been associated with Imran. Legislation on corruption needs updating and the only way to get laws acceptable to all is if they work together.