Slogans, agitation, fiery speeches order of the day

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ISLAMABAD: When everyone expected Friday’s National Assembly (NA) sitting falling on the very next day of Panama case verdict to be an eventful one, it was a bit long stretched competition of fiery speeches laden with rhetoric and emotions.

It turned out to be a noisy, agitational show – swift and short-lived against expectations. All said and done in less than half an hour included sloganeering, agitation, arguments etc -- the protest around Speaker’s dias, federal ministers and opposition leader’s short speeches in the limited time package.

Pick of the whole frenzy on Friday morning was however PTI leader Imran Khan turning up in the National Assembly. He didn’t offer a victorious march as he was there to fire some warning shots of public agitation in the offing (next Friday in Islamabad). Not everyone was impressed. These are tried and tested PTI tactics, partially successful at times but failures at other moments. On this day, PTI chief entered Parliament after nearly seven months gap. In October last year, Khan vowed not to enter the elected House as it would amount to lending legitimacy to premier Sharif. Six months down the road, he tends to forget the earlier argument as a new set of brainy advisers must have prevailed. So the premier got legitimised as Imran walked into the National Assembly at this point of time though under protest. In between, six months or so, he held public meetings in Punjab and KP, and tried his best to shoot through Islamabad lockdown call, thinking perhaps naively the garrison will play the ball and will finally earn premier Sharif’s resignation and early elections in first part of 2017. The scheme failed to materialise as PTI could not muster enough public strength -- millions they claimed, a few thousand turning out in the end. Instead, as a result of government crackdown, the whole thing fizzled out. But PTI was allowed a legal course, and a way out by the apex court. Thus it is a reprieve from agitation and street protest for the last six months. Now, some hard luck coupled with a bit of faulty strategy lands Imran back in Parliament, and everyone knows he is not at all comfortable, upbeat about it. Thus, he walked into Parliament building after failing to achieve immediate disqualification of Premier Sharif through apex court. A split apex court decision is their only line of defence and offense. The PTI leader was however advised to make it to the legislature without delay. Score some political points, and enjoy media coverage as a consequence. Having survived from the brink on Panama case, the PML-N led treasury was however not ready to budge. So when the heavy weight ministers were hard to find on treasury front rows, a light weight like Aftab Sheikh responded to Leader of the Opposition Khursheed Shah’s obvious salvo to demand Premier Sharif to resign on moral grounds. Then, Mr Shah wanted the floor to be given immediately to Imran Khan sitting two seats away on the opposition front row. As if everything was settled, Imran rose employing his unique style amidst sloganeering. But he was surprised as Deputy Speaker had something else in mind. He wanted to play by the book – that leave should be granted first to suspend the usual business so that points of orders could be taken up. So it caused a more ferocious agitation as opposition members got into a match of sloganeering and hooting with PML-N’s stars who master the same art. And then the obvious walkout – PPP side by side PTI. Remember the last time when Imran wanted to respond to PM’s Parliament speech on Panama. Khursheed Shah signaled his comrades to walk out, pre-planned or otherwise. Today’s arrangement was more settled in nature. On the face of it, PPP has come out as a worst critic of the Panama case judgment. But its demand that Sharif should resign seems negotiable provided the federal government solves the issue of missing Zardari aides. Everyone heard Zardari sahib on Thursday, telling so many words not to let PTI of the hook to hijack the system through mere a few thousand people. Throughout the past four years, PPP has observed and then countered very move of the PTI – whether hands in gloves with the umpire in 128 days of Islamabad sit-in, or the last of the series in the form of lockdown – through backdoor covert moves. Zardari sahib and co don’t want to give advantage to PTI at the expense of PML-N. Same goes for PML-N in the case of PPP even when the latter passes a resolution in the Sindh Assembly asking Premier Sharif to resign. And then the hurry to requisite National Assembly session in the coming week knowing well it would be a political fire extinguisher. All this at a time when Imran Khan led PTI wants to compel Nawaz Sharif to resign through public meetings, protests. PPP seems more inclined to do it through agitation inside Parliament, by keeping Senator Aitzaz Ahsan busy on merits and demerits, nitty-gritty of Panama case verdict. Sheikh Rashid will keep himself busy day dreaming a potent opposition alliance. Jamaat-e-Islami will keep on treading a middle road as usual. Reformist and calculated revolutionaries are at times and devil’s advocate at decisive junctures. Same is the case with MQM. PML-N and allies’ main focus is to come out of Panama saga-2 with minimum political bruises and scratches possible. They dearly want to complete the tenure of present National Assembly and government. And here we are in the election year as Zardari sahib lectures the nation on honesty, fair play and good governance – Interior Minister Ch Nisar taunts as a sign of doomsday just round the corner.