WHETHER the de-escalation of the political crisis is a temporary phenomenon or a permanent one only the days ahead will reveal.

There is certainly pressure building on Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri to end their protest and seek some kind of deal on electoral reforms with the government, but the PTI and PAT chiefs have so far displayed fickle behaviour. Consider how last Saturday, in the space of a couple of hours, the situation along Constitution Avenue changed from optimism that a deal may be imminent to dark violence after Mr Khan and Mr Qadri teamed up and unleashed their supporters.

Yet, there is a sense that the protesters are running out of options. A steady rain in the capital yesterday added to the problems facing the PTI and PAT because the focus remained on the joint session of parliament instead of what Mr Khan and Mr Qadri said or did.

If the de-escalation is to be permanent, however, the PML-N will have to demonstrate magnanimity of spirit that has been lacking for the most part. To be sure, Mr Khan, Mr Qadri and their respective protesters have appeared undeserving of sympathy. But the onus on the government is greater — Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his government are the custodians of the democratic project and must do whatever they can to bring all political forces, even implacable foes, closer into the political mainstream.

Contradictory as some of the PTI rhetoric has been — contrast what Imran Khan has routinely said from atop his shipping container with what Shah Mehmood Qureshi said inside parliament — the PML-N should focus on the pro-democracy and pro-parliamentary words of PTI leaders and find some common cause. Even now, it would make much sense to offer some generous concessions to the PTI and PAT in return for the withdrawal of their demand for the prime minister’s resignation and a quick end to the protests, thereby allowing the country to move on from this most damaging of episodes.

The PML-N ought to pay heed to what has made the present de-escalation possible: activating parliament in defence of democracy and widespread revulsion at the PTI’s and PAT’s aggressive, violent tactics over the weekend. The anti-democratic forces in the country are still strong, but they no longer have carte blanche. To achieve their goals, the anti-democratic forces need a political foil, a government that makes repeated mistakes and is low on public goodwill.

For much of this crisis, the PML-N has been that political foil, a bumbling opponent that has compounded virtually every problem it has had to contend with. Now that life is flowing out of the anti-government protests and flowing back into a government that had seemingly been clinging to survival, the PML-N must take advantage of the opening to build bridges in the larger interest of democracy.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2014