— The government and opposition must step back from political brinkmanship and return to dialogue before personal rivalries further damage an already battered country
By Irum Saleem
The opposition Tehreek-i-Tahafuz Ayin-i-Pakistan has drawn a line under talks with the government, making a meeting between its negotiators and jailed former prime minister Imran Khan a precondition for returning to the table.
By handing the authority for further negotiations to National Assembly opposition leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai, the opposition has also offered the government a face-saving route back to dialogue.
The government should take it.
Mr Achakzai is a veteran politician with credibility across party lines. If there is still a desire among decision-makers to prevent political temperatures from spiralling further, allowing him to meet Mr Khan would be a small but meaningful step towards de-escalation.
Unfortunately, there is little evidence that the government is in a conciliatory mood. Its decision to dismiss the elected PTI government in KP has deepened an already poisonous political environment, and the move’s subsequent approval by a joint sitting of parliament has only hardened positions.
The government may invoke security concerns, but many remain unconvinced that such extraordinary measures were necessary. The new arrangement in the province itself faces formidable political and administrative challenges.
More importantly, the country cannot afford to remain trapped in this cycle of political confrontation.
In the years since the PTI government at the centre was removed, successive governments have struggled to deliver a meaningful improvement in the lives of ordinary citizens.
The public has repeatedly been asked to endure austerity and stabilisation, while those in charge have devoted disproportionate energy to blaming their predecessors and settling political scores. Meanwhile, hunger, poverty and economic insecurity continue to weigh heavily on millions.
This is where both sides have failed to see the larger picture.
The PTI, during its truncated tenure, became consumed with pursuing its political opponents in the name of accountability. Those who followed have, in turn, become consumed with pushing the PTI out of political life.
The faces have changed, but the politics of vendetta have remained remarkably constant.
The result is a country where outsized political egos collide while the economy strains under pressure and ordinary people struggle to make ends meet.
The latest confrontation may dominate the headlines today, but measured against the timescale of governance, it will eventually look like little more than a storm in a teacup. What will remain is the damage inflicted on institutions, political norms and public confidence.
Pakistan cannot afford a politics reduced to settling scores and defeating personalities. The government must recognise that confrontation has diminishing returns.
Mr Achakzai has offered a route back to the negotiating table.
It should take it.
Dialogue is not surrender. In the present circumstances, it may be the only responsible form of politics left.
