he often contradictory signals from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, as well as the ambiguous posturing by Pakistan Peoples Party have done little good to democracy. In fact, these have served only to increase the uncertainty and polarisation in the country. In the blurred political landscape, there is only one clear visual – the tug-of-war between the establishment and the Judiciary. The tussle appears to be intensifying because of the failure of the political forces.

The current polarisation and political confusion emerged due to the wrong policies of the establishment, some poor judgments by the Judiciary and the failure of the political parties to work for the sake of the people and democracy.

The PTI’s obduracy with regard to the PML-N and the PPP as well as some judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court is not just a part of the problem; arguably, it is the problem. The party’s incarcerated founder has been cobbling narratives and counter-narratives to keep his opponents and some state institutions under pressure despite being imprisoned and accused in dozens of cases. He refuses to hold talks with the PML-N and the PPP. At the same time, he has nominated Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party’s chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai to hold talks with the ‘’stakeholders.” However, given the persistent confusion, Achakzai has been unable to start negotiations with the ruling coalition.

When the opposition moved a no-confidence resolution against then prime minister Imran Khan in 2022, an audio recording had surfaced on the social media. It suggested that Khan had approached Asif Ali Zardari through Malik Riaz, a business tycoon, for help. The request was declined.

According to highly informed sources in the PPP and the PTI, Khan again contacted Zardari at the end of 2022, through common friends, and sought help to mend his relationship with the establishment. “Mr Zardari was willing to mediate. He told the common friends that Imran Khan should keep his mouth shut for a while. However, Khan did not follow the advice,” a PPP insider told The News on Sunday.

At the same time, Khan threatened some judges and law officers, only to apologise later. Several leaders of his party criticised the chief justice of Pakistan and the chief justice of Islamabad High Court and demanded that they recuse themselves from hearing PTI’s cases. But then Imran Khan praised six judges of the Islamabad High Court for showing the courage to write a letter to the CJP about pressures faced from powerful quarters. Earlier, when former IHC judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui spoke about such pressures during Imran Khan‘s rule, he lost his job.

In a recent statement, Khan said that he was willing to talk to the military leadership and that they should appoint a representative for this purpose. The statement came after some PTI leaders told the media that the party had managed to convey Khan’s message to powerful quarters. This generated many rumours such as the possibility of the imposition of an ‘emergency’ regime in Pakistan, the formation of a national government and fresh elections.

The PTI claims could not be verified independently.

Meanwhile, PTI’s arch nemesis, the ruling PML-N, also appears to be unable to handle political affairs. Some attribute this to economic issues and other hidden weaknesses. PML-N leaders have tried their best to counter the PTI’s narrative and failed. Both Nawaz Sharif and Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif have offered dialogue to the PTI. The offer was never accepted.

What confused the people about the PML-N’s policy is that two weeks ago, the federal cabinet ‘decided’ to proceed to ban the PTI and try Imran Khan, former president Arif Alvi and National Assembly’s former deputy speaker Qasim Suri on treason charges under Article 6 of the constitution. Contrary to the declaration, Musadik Malik, the minister for petroleum, speaking on a TV talk show last Sunday, extended an offer for negotiations to the PTI. His statement came after some of his cabinet colleagues had expressed a strong intent to ban the PTI. Even as the Sharifs offered talks to the PTI, crackdown against PTI leaders was under way. Recently, the National Accountability Bureau has filed another reference against Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi in the Tausha Khana case and proceeded with criminal proceedings against them.

PTI’s information secretary Raoof Hasan was arrested a couple of weeks ago while two PTI parliamentarians from Vehari, Aurangzeb Kichi and Jahanzeb Kichi, were arrested by Anti-Corruption Establishment-Punjab on charges of grabbing public land.

It is also worth mentioning that a majority of actions against the PTI leaders and supporters have been taken in the Punjab where PML-N is running the provincial government. In the PTI-ruled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and PPP-ruled Sindh, the crackdowns have not amounted to much.

The PML-N-led coalition in Islamabad is also trying to counter the impact of recent judgments by the Supreme Court and Islamabad High Court by filing review petitions and fresh legislation in the National Assembly. Recently, some members of the ruling coalition, who lost their memberships to the National Assembly on reserved seats, have filed petitions to be heard in the case. The federal cabinet is also preparing to file a review petition against that verdict. At the same time, the treasury has sought amendments in the law that deals with reserved seats.

All this is an indication that the ruling coalition, especially the PML-N, has chosen to side with powerful quarters in the Executive against a group of judges seen as hostile to them. The crackdown against PTI supporters also suggests that the government is likely to continue in this direction.

The PPP, which could have been an effective mediator, has also adopted an unclear policy. When the federal cabinet talked of banning the PTI, PPP’s Shazia Marri told the media that the government had not taken the PPP into confidence on the issue and Farhatullah Babar dismissed the suggestion as a joke. However, PPP’s secretary general, Nayyar Bukhari, later told the media that the PPP should support the government on the issue of banning the PTI.

The ambiguous posturing and statements coming from political parties and their leaders establish that despite their many differences they agree on one thing: more power resides in Rawalpindi than elsewhere.

The writer is a senior journalist, teacher of journalism, writer and analyst. He tweets at @BukhariMubasher