There is heightened political activity in the country at the moment, such that one would see in a run up to an election. Is this in preparation for election 2018? Or is it that election 2018 is under no one’s consideration and the political parties are only making retaliatory moves. No matter what they do, it is all geared around an important announcement that is expected at the end of November 2016 -- the naming of the new army chief for the country.

The posturing of political parties is such that one is forced to think as if that one announcement has the potential to change the political fate of this country. The foremost among them is the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). It has announced a lockdown of the capital on November 2, till the prime minister is held accountable for his or his family’s ‘corruption’ as evidenced in the Panama Papers.

The Panama leaks did appear as a godsend opportunity for the PTI that saw this as their last chance to get rid of the Sharifs. It has tried hard in the last six months to put the ruling elite in the dock but did not quite succeed.

The party’s position has hardened, especially in lieu of the worsening civil-military relations. It is frustrated at the failure of its earlier attempts at agitational protests in 2014, against charges of electoral rigging. Instead of going back to the parliament and making a case for more permanent electoral reforms, it saw it fit to resort to street agitation once again.

Now, the Panama leaks fit in well with the PTI’s broader agenda of a corruption-free Pakistan. The fact that Imran Khan is not flanked by angels on either side fails to deter him from pursuing his goals.

The two other major parties in this race for power are the PPP and the PML-N. Of these, the PPP is trying to maintain a necessary distance from the other two. The challenges for the PPP are huge, including restructuring the party anew and regaining its lost vote-bank. But unlike the PTI, it doesn’t seem in a hurry. It is equally cautious about not shaking the system too much.

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And yet the PTI seems to be shaping the narrative somehow. Imran Khan decided to boycott the joint session of parliament on Kashmir, choosing to protest the government’s corruption instead. As it happened, those attending the parliament especially the PPP were compelled to talk about Panama and other corruptions in the session inside.

The PML-N’s task is the toughest it seems. It has to fight for survival, till the next election that is, maintain the civil-military balance as it deems fit, project its development agenda to the satisfaction of its constituents and deal with the sit-ins and lockdowns without a major mess-up.

Our Special Report today looks at the posturing of these three major political parties and how it is shaping the politics at large.