ne hopes that some of the recent statements made by government leaders are signs of impatience and instant desperation rather than something more permanent.

Two major announcements made by leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz over the last month have been outright mismanaged. These have served only to add to the confusion.

The only conclusion an ordinary citizen could draw from this was that the rulers were bent upon rocking an already shaky boat. The announcements were made without doing the political homework and without laying a proper foundation in terms of building public opinion.

The first declaration was issued from the Prime Minister’s Office as a written statement. It said that in view of the security situation, the apex committee of the National Action Plan, chaired by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and attended by Army Chief Gen Asim Munir on June 22, had decided to launch a new military operation, to be called Azm-i-Istehkam.

This announcement caused much anxiety, especially in the country’s northwest, where militant violence and operations to oust entrenched militants in the past have caused great hardship to the people. Many took to the streets in Swat and tribal districts to voice their opposition to the new operation. Several major political parties, too, opposed the plan.

The proclamation had followed the visit by dozens of tribal elders from Waziristan to Islamabad about a month ago to seek help to expedite pending compensation payments. The people affected by the military operations that in some cases required the law abiding citizens to live away from their home and hearth for weeks and months have been waiting for the compensation cheques for up to eight years. Others have been waiting for the realisation of promised development projects. No one was prepared for another internal displacement.

Sensing the popular pulse, the official machinery then started damage control by issuing clarifications through more statements, press conferences and background briefings for various groups of people. It was claimed that the ‘operation’ had been misunderstood; and that it was nothing comparable to the previous operations. It would indeed be limited to intelligence based actions by security forces the likes of which were already being undertaken as and where necessary. The government also retracted some of the earlier claims and promised to take the matter to the federal cabinet and the parliament. So far, there has been no progress on this front.

While consensus building has been slow, there are almost daily attacks by militant in areas like Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan. Banned and hunted, the Pakistani Taliban have changed their strategy. They are now mostly targeting security forces and not claiming these attacks. There are signs that the Afghan Taliban are a factor in the recent developments. New militant groups are coming to the fore and claiming responsibility for some of these strikes. Clarity about the government policy on the ‘limited in scale and different from the past’ military push-back is lacking in public discourse.

Meanwhile, the Baloch Liberation Army has made an announcement to accelerate and expand its attacks.

The second highly embarrassing announcement was made in a heated presser by Information Minister Atta Tarar. He said a decision had been made to move the Supreme Court to seek a complete ban on Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, one of the country’s biggest political parties. Political commentators were surprised by the sudden move but assumed that the nervousness on part of the PML-N was behind it. The government and the establishment have been unable to contain the party, much less cause its popularity to diminish. Arbitrary arrests, detentions, abductions and social media restrictions have all been tried and failed.

The first blow for the government came with the overturning of the conviction of Imran Khan and his wife’s in the so-called Iddat Case. The bigger blow was, no doubt, the Supreme Court verdict holding that the PTI was a legitimate political party and ordering the Election Commission to allocate reserved seats to it, both in the National Assembly and the Provincial Assemblies. The initial reaction by the PML-N was that the top court had gone beyond the petitioners’ prayer. After feverish consultation over several days came the announcement that government will seek a prohibition of the PTI.

Article 17 of the constitution allows the government to refer a political party to the Supreme Court if it believes that the party is operating prejudicially to the sovereignty of Pakistan. But that is not all. For this to happen, a case needs to be built before the nation and the parliament to get their approval. Legal battles come later. Government leaders may be living in a fool’s paradise if they believe that they can take such drastic steps without first building political support. The first reaction from the government’s key ally, the Pakistan Peoples Party, was one of dismay and rejection. Most of the PPP leaders said they were shocked when the media called them for their reaction. Later, the party said that the official PPP policy would be announced after consultations. Other political forces, too, rubbished the announcement.

Never a dull moment.

Signals from the PML-N-led government appear to suggest that it sees the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf – and not the national economy or the security situation – as its main challenge.

Can the announcement have been a tactic to divert attention from some of the pressing issues? Could it be a signal to the 41 PTI-backed independent members of the National Assembly currently under Supreme Court instructions to submit their allegiance affidavits to the Election Commission of Pakistan, to not to do so?

If that was the purpose, the announcement came late. According to PTI leader Shibli Faraz, 37 of the MNAs have already deposited their affidavits to the ECP. The leader of the opposition in the Senate told The News on Sunday three lawmakers – Mobeen Arif, Umar Farooq and Mehboob Sultan – were sending the documents from the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Efforts were on to locate Riaz Fatyana.

These MNAs, therefore, do not appear to be the real reason for the hurriedly made announcement to sanction the PTI. The fact is that the PML-N and its backers are not succeeding in suppressing a party that enjoys sizeable support amongst the masses. The more actions they take against the PTI, the more pervasive the annoyance of the masses becomes. Their anxiety stems from the fact that they have not been able to turn the tide even with the May 9 and Toshakhana cases.

The government has claimed that there is credible evidence to ban the PTI. For this it has cited its involvement in the May 9 riots, the cipher case and its policy towards the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan. However, most of the evidence is likely to be dismissed by courts as hearsay.

Overall, the political reaction has been one of rejection and dismay. How can a party claiming to be a champion of democracy advocate such draconian measures? As expected, the announcement has drawn a lot of flak. Imran Khan’s adviser, Zulfikar Bukhari, has likened the government’s plans of banning the PTI and charging Khan and other party members with treason to a “soft martial law.”

As in the case of Operation Azm-i-Istehkam, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar had to make the retreat. He said the decision had not yet been made to send a reference against the PTI to the Supreme Court. The matter, he said, would be finalised after taking the government’s allies and others political leaders into confidence.

The question then arises: who directed the information minister to make this announcement in the first place? Was it not the party leadership? Will a U-turn credit Nawaz Sharif for not being in favour?

There is no doubt that a ban – even an attempt at seeking one – would only deepen the political polarisation and potentially worsen the political chaos.

Running a government is no child’s play. The government needs to make less noise and do more work. For its part, the PTI needs to agree to a wider dialogue to resolve the political and economic issues.

The writer, a journalist for 33 years, has been an editor at the BBC in Pakistan for over two decades. Currently, he is the managing editor at Independent Urdu