CONTRAST it with the time the federal government is taking to deliberate various urgent issues, and the (abortive) move to sack the National Database and Registration Authority chief would appear to have been one resorted to in panic. Reports say Nadra chairman Tariq Malik was given marching orders in the thick of the night between Dec 2 and 3, an image invoking metaphors about the dark activity in the corridors of power in Pakistan over the years. Mr Malik struck back in the morning when he obtained a stay order against his removal from the Islamabad High Court on Dec 3 and the case now awaits hearing amid great public anticipation. In the meantime, much flak has been directed at Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government for not following the rules in the attempt to dismiss the Nadra chief.

While in opposition, Mr Sharif had won much applause for his ‘mature’ style of politics. The period starting with his return to Pakistan in 2007 up to the general elections in May this year was remembered, among other things, for the restraint with which the PML-N leader dealt with complicated political problems. That restraint and an avowed adherence to principles were to be put to the test after he won the May elections. While it would be unfair to judge him so early into his term the few compromises that he has already been forced to make do warrant a word of caution. It is understandable that the prime minister and his administration need people they can trust and work with in important government positions. But they need to remind themselves that discretion can be employed only up to a point, and certainly not in instances where the law defines a clear course of action to replace an official.

Not too far into his third term, the remarkably old-fashioned attempted sacking of Mr Tariq Malik has inevitably exposed Mr Sharif to both closer scrutiny and rumours. That the Nadra chief was involved in the verification of votes on seats the PML-N had won in the last general election adds greater spice to opposition politics. It disappoints his supporters and those who aspire to a better system; it emboldens others who had been mischievously predicting the prime minister’s resort to the unseemly sooner rather than later. The abortive sacking of Mr Malik makes it even more incumbent on the government to ensure fairness and objectivity in the investigation of complaints related to the elections which the PML-N is accused by many of having rigged.