he Pakistani political rollercoaster is taking its passengers through “tight turns” and “steep slopes.” Those ensconced in the rattling cars of the government, allegedly through a “questionable” ticket, however, look assured of a safe and satisfying ride.

Last week tested their stomachs to the hilt but the federal administration not only didn’t throw up, it also kept its head and came out of a tricky melange pretty okay.

Islamabad was hosting the 23rd meeting of the Council of the Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s member states. Those in power wanted a peaceful and quiet capital. So, a three-day local holiday was announced from October 14 to October 16. Schools, markets, restaurants, hotels, marriage halls and marquees were ordered to shut shop. Almost all roads leading to the capital were blocked and the army took over the control of the city, making it look like a ghost town.

The nearly 5 million citizens of Rawalpindi and Islamabad have begrudgingly accepted periodic lockdowns of their cities as a fact of life. Most of them were happy to have a five-day holiday bonanza. The Capital Development Authority had spent buckets full of public money on the beautification of the Red Zone and the route from Noor Khan Airbase in Rawalpindi to Islamabad.

“The SCO summit, being attended by the leaders of four nuclear powers—China, India, Pakistan, Russia—and the heads of governments of all Central Asian Republics and Iran can safely be described as the biggest international event in Pakistan after the 1974 OIC Summit,” a secretary of the government of Pakistan told The News on Sunday.

The Red Zone sparkled for a few days. However, the apprehension of another PTI march on Islamabad to disrupt the summit was constantly spoken about in hushed tones in the capital’s drawing rooms. At one point it became the sole subject for ministers and government spokespersons as well as pro-government commentators in TV talk shows. Diehard PTI supporters were not ready to buy the argument. With social media going into a fake news frenzy regarding Imran Khan’s health, matters were made worse when his former wife, Jemima Goldsmith, joined the fray on X (formerly Twitter) saying her sons’ contact with their incarcerated father had been severed, and that Imran Khan was being denied basic rights, including family visits and legal representation.

Jemima went on to claim that Imran was “now completely isolated, in solitary confinement, literally in the dark.” She wrote that the electric power in his cell had been turned off and the jail cook sent on leave. In another tweet, she mentioned writing to British foreign secretary, David Lammy, regarding her concern about her former husband but admitted that there had been no response from the foreign secretary’s office. The British government might be playing cautious on pumped up emotions but Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif responded to Jemima saying “her sons’ father has consistently been extended far more humanity than he ever showed his opponents.”

Days before the Jemima-Asif spat on X, using Imran’s health scare and restrictions on meeting party leaders or family members, PTI’s Sheikh Waqas Akram and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur had threated once again to march on Islamabad on October 15, the day the SCO summit was to officially open. Their call for workers to reach D-Chowk was a matter of serious concern for the government. The spectre of circumvallation of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, digging up M1 motorway to block Gandapur’s October 4 on the “orders of powers that be” and invoking Article 245 of the constitution to call the army to assist civilian law enforcement agencies was fresh in the government’s mind.

An equally potent challenge was posed by the recently proscribed Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement through its announcement to hold a jirga to highlight the plight of the Pashtun people and take decisions about their future vis-à-vis the Pakistani state and its powerful institutions. The proposed jirga was pencilled in for October 11. At one stage, sources in the military establishment were “expecting” around half a million Pashtuns attending the PTM jirga. There was also talk of symbolic “participation” from Baloch Yakjehti Council to support the “cause of minorities and raise the issues of injustices faced by the smaller provinces.”

The government’s plate could not have been fuller. Add the lingering issue of the passage of the proposed 26th Constitutional Amendment and you have the semblance of a perfect storm. But somehow, the Sharif administration handled these situations quite deftly. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi was despatched to Peshawar to sit with Chief Minister Gandapur and Governor Faisal Karim Kundi to dilute the sting of PTM’s demands. Naqvi, it may be mentioned, had been using quite harsh language about the PTM after the movement was proscribed.

Similarly, when Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang was the chief guest at a state luncheon hosted by President Asif Ali Zardari and attended by three governors, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman Gen Sahir Shamshad and Army Chief Gen Asim Munir and other federal and provincial ministers, Mohsin Naqvi was reportedly facilitating PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan’s meeting with Imran Khan in Adiala Prison. By early afternoon, Barrister Gohar had tweeted about the satisfactory state of Imran’s health. This tweet elicited some really malevolent remarks from Imran’s fanatic fans who asked for Gohar’s resignation for “compromising” the party’s stance.

Unlike the lacklustre performance on October 4, the army contingent did a stellar job on the 15th, making sure no untoward incident took place in the twin cities. The government can rightly claim credit for delivering a successful conference, cementing Islamabad’s diplomatic ties with Beijing and Moscow, opening up a little with New Delhi and hoping to advance Pakistan’s relations with Central Asian Republics. In fact, by the end of the conference, the government was also looking confident of securing a consensus on the proposed constitutional amendment. The government and its allies can gloat about their success on diplomatic and economic fronts for some time. The real test is facing the PTI, where the leadership has weakened; party structure is in a shambles; young fans and followers of Imran Khan are unwilling to accept the current hierarchy; and the party has no clear plan for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where it has been in government since 2013, or the country that it ruled for over three years.

The writer is the resident editor of The News at Islamabad. His X handle: @aamirghauri