BEFITTING a political impasse that ebbs and flows seemingly several times a day, yesterday began with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif finally addressing parliament and delivering a reasonably reassuring speech before Imran Khan took to the microphone outside parliament in the evening and rejected further negotiations with the government unless the prime minister resigned.

This after five rounds of talks between the government and the PTI. Meanwhile, Tahirul Qadri, a marginal figure who nevertheless has the ability to create much trouble thanks to his zealous following, again tried to steal the limelight last night, after the expiry of yet another deadline.

The first half of the day at least had some positives.

Despite attending the extended session of parliament several times already, the prime minister had avoided a speech from the floor of the National Assembly until yesterday.

Perhaps it was coincidental that Mr Sharif chose to address parliament the day after he had another significant meeting with army chief Gen Raheel Sharif — or perhaps it was not.

Either way, the prime minister put on a confident display, suggesting that he and his small coterie of advisers were feeling less institutionally isolated than they may have felt several days ago.

While the prime minister did not directly address what he considers to be the real reasons for the present crisis or indeed directly make any mention of the present impasse, he rightly pointed out that the focus should be on the system and not on individuals.

It is the democratic system, respecting the sanctity of the Constitution and an institutional shift towards the rule of law that will put Pakistan on the path to stability — not the personalisation of politics without any real sense of responsibility towards the system.

There are surely political and governance shortcomings of Mr Sharif and the PML-N generally — and Mr Sharif acknowledged that in his comments in parliament yesterday — but without a system, there can be no institutional fixes.

Just as the PPP paid a huge price for its governance failures, so will any other government — if the electorate is allowed to vote on schedule and without disruption. But that is precisely what Imran Khan seems determined to ensure does not happen.

The resignation of Prime Minister Sharif would effectively mean the end of the government Pakistan elected just 15 months ago.

There are clearly circumstances in which early elections, snap polls or an unscheduled return to the voting public could be a good idea — and may even be necessary.

But these are not those circumstances.

The question is really why should Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri have a veto over the affairs of the state and by whom it is governed? Now into the third week of their protests, Mr Khan and Mr Qadri are running on fumes — at least as far as rational discourse goes.

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2014