Troubled return

The PTI has re-entered the assemblies. But the passage back into the National Assembly, which they left behind over seven months ago on August 22, 2014 when 34 parliamentarians resigned at the height of the PTI protests over the alleged manipulation of the 2013 polls, has not been a smooth one. The PTI MNAs, including Imran Khan, were greeted with instant hostility which began with Defence Minister Khwaja Asif making a fiery speech in which he asked why the PTI was back at all given that it still held that parliament was unjustly elected. This refrain was, in a chaotic house, loudly taken up by others with Speaker Ayaz Sadiq struggling to keep any kind of order. Although Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif reprimanded his defence minister privately during the prayer break, no one seemed in the mood for calm, and as accusations flew – with the PTI accused of belittling parliament – the MQM eventually staged a walk-out from the joint session called to discuss the Yemen issue. According to the MQM’s Dr Farooq Sattar, MNAs who have resigned cannot return to the house at will and that this is a violation of the constitution.
Tempers seem to be flying high. What had seemed like an attempt at peacemaking and a lowering of tensions with things returning to normal as the PTI re-entered assemblies have in fact proved to be rather volatile. We do not know where they will go from here. PTI MNAs replied to some of the jibes hurled their way. The assertion of some of these MNAs as they walked into the National Assembly that they still did not believe in the legitimacy of the body has clearly irked many and raised questions as to why they have then chosen to return. The issue of the exit from the assemblies has of course created differences within the PTI as well. These surfaced when they walked away and were present again at the meeting at Imran Khan’s Bani Gala house where they decided to walk back in. Imran Khan himself was outvoted in his stance that any return should come only after the judicial commission set up to probe elections had delivered a verdict. Most members of his own core committee went with Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s argument that they should re-enter the legislative houses. This they have done. The battle will now be fought within these chambers, rather than on the streets. This is a good omen. It is also true that democracy needs difference, dissent and a strong opposition. It, however, also needs some element of parliamentary decorum and this was certainly not visible in what should have been a sombre joint sitting to debate a crucial issue that affects Pakistan’s foreign policy and security concerns. Let us hope we can return to it in time.