FOR a city that prides itself on the wit and subtle humour of its inhabitants, Lyallpur, also known among newcomers as Faisalabad, should have been worried a long time ago. For a party that must always propagate discipline and single-minded advance, it is intriguing how the PML-N could allow this fracas involving family and friends in the name of grass-roots democracy.

Neither the city nor the party command appear to have any qualms about the long public display that has taken place in the country’s third biggest city ever since PML-N leaders decided to declare local government (LG) elections there ‘open’. The PML-N is found here mastering through in-house matches techniques in intimidation, in shouting down opponents, in trivialising and ridiculing. The tricks perfected can then be used without much restraint in talk shows and social media debates.

The option of opening up an electoral contest to groups within is not infrequently used by the PML-N. It was used recently in the LG elections in Lahore and other parts. This is a democratic choice which, along with indicating other aspects, does recognise diversity within the ranks. And in Lyallpur it was exercised after it was found that it would be impossible to reconcile the warring factions led by Rana Sanaullah — a friend of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif — and Chaudhry Sher Ali — a Sharif family relative — to a single list of LG contestants.

The PML-N’s silence on the infighting within its ranks cannot be explained away by emphasising that big parties always have such skirmishes.

The bitter squabbling between the two groups subsequently would suggest that either side preferred the more localised interpretation of the term ‘open’. They were out there taking on each other without any undue inhibitions.

In the process, murder charges have been flying in both directions and even the mildest exchange is sufficient evidence to dispel the long-held impression that no one could come close to matching Rana Sanaullah’s colourful expressions. The rival camp cannot only compete with the provincial minister’s constant oral outpourings it can outgun the Rana camp with its original taunts — verbal and in the shape of gestures designed to uplift the spirits of the supporters.

For those who must stay loyal to the old formula where macho images generated on the street are thought to be essential to the rise of the popular politician, the spiced-up fare has continued beyond LG polling on Oct 30. Both groups claim a majority in the councils elected, represented, as they say, by an assortment of those who had fought the polls with mutually incomparable symbols of bucket and diamond. There were moments when it appeared that the interests of democracy at the basic level had been served and that a thaw was a matter of a few hours more. But this relatively calm period was soon followed by new allegations, some more serious than the previous ones.

Before and immediately after the polls many of us beneficiaries of the system were happy about the pluralism showcased by the PML-N by virtue of so many of its groupings contesting with one another at the local government level. Yet a few things from the in-house Lyallpur arena were difficult to explain. For instance, not every — ordinary — mind could fathom the ‘merits’ and ‘fruits’ that accusations of murder against a respectable politician — and the counter attack could yield.

Now everyone knows that Rana Sanaullah has been one of the frequently accused and maligned in the case of the killing of 14 Tahirul Qadri followers in Lahore last year. By comparison this one, where he was implicated in multiple murders by a notorious hitman was an altogether different ball game. This was a blow to the very base that Rana Sana has built for himself in Lyallpur right from his days as a PPP jiyala, but it’s hardly a contribution to democracy that could enhance the industrial city’s reputation among the top Pakistani towns with the potential to set the tone for politics in the days to come.

Rana Sanaullah’s own hissing reactions did little to add to his standing as provider of the most caustic takes on all kinds of events along with politicians such as Sheikh Rashid, who has been lacing his politics with his own macho, often misogynist, refrains in his Rawalpindi constituency and beyond.

What makes the exchanges a spectacle in manoeuvring is the code that is equally binding on both parties to the dispute — Rana Sana and Chaudhry Sher Ali. They may be at each other’s throat and may come out with the choicest expletives for each other to the spontaneous applause of their audiences. But after they are through with fighting over their petty affairs, they must round off their respective shows with statements that bring out their loyalty to their great leadership.

If that is a skill not specific to Lyallpur or PML-N, the kind of Sharif flattery these two factions resort to after each round of fighting between them should have caused enough embarrassment for someone at the top to get down and force a settlement on the feuding gentlemen.

Instead, the silence with which the PML-N leadership has been treating the infighting cannot be explained away by simply emphasising that big parties can always have these skirmishes and tensions within. There has to be a limit to how much washing from the house can be allowed in public.

Perhaps it is alright for the central leadership to ignore minor trouble brewing within the camp and maintain a dignified distance from petty squabbling. There is a point, nonetheless, where lack of intervention is taken as a sign of lack of control and an inability to address internal damage.

In due time we might be treated to scenes where the main characters involved in this feud would be shaking each other by the hand, embracing each other. Yet there is a strong view which insists that the situation has been allowed to degenerate for far too long for it to resolve without the total humiliation of one side and the complete victory of the other.

The writer is Dawn’s resident editor in Lahore.

Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2015

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