HISTORICALLY, election campaign seasons in Pakistan have been short and intense. But this time around, with more than a year left in the parliamentary term, which expires in June 2018, the PPP and PTI appear to be swinging into full campaign mode — and perhaps could be altering the very dynamics of electioneering in the country. To the extent that political parties have a right to choose their own electoral strategies and the PPP and PTI may be hedging their bets against an early election, there is no harm in the opposition’s approach at the moment. However, if the PPP and PTI are simply trying to exploit the political situation in the wake of the Supreme Court decision in the Panama Papers hearings, the aggressive speechmaking and rallies by the main opposition parties could have the effect of drawing the country into a long, unnecessary and unwanted campaign season, rendering the fifth year of parliament irrelevant and possibly undermining the democratic project itself.

To be sure, the PML-N has contributed a great deal to the emerging scenario of a lengthy campaign season, especially with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s recent speeches in Sindh. Moreover, the PML-N’s unseemly, and certainly premature, public celebrations after the Supreme Court verdict that did little to clear the cloud of suspicion hanging over the Sharif family’s business empire were guaranteed to attract a fierce opposition response. In the

hard-fought world of politics, every action has an equal, sometimes greater, reaction. Yet, in the PPP and PTI’s responses, there can be traced a great deal of self-interest to the possible detriment of the democratic project. For the PPP — and Asif Zardari in particular — the pressure it is facing in Sindh from the state appears to be the principal motivating factor in the party’s aggressive posture in recent days.

That only reinforces suspicions that what Mr Zardari is really after is a deal, a quid pro quo that reduces the pressure on his immediate circle of advisers and, more generally, the PPP government in Sindh. Certainly, such a perception, especially if it becomes widespread in the electorate, cannot be good for the democratic project. Perhaps the PPP’s recent angry style of politics would be more believable if the party simultaneously took a greater interest in governance in Sindh. Meanwhile, the PTI appears unwilling to practise anything other than permanent campaign-style politics. While an immediate change in the approach that has dominated since the PTI’s October 2011 Lahore rally is unlikely, what remains a concern is the PTI’s disregard for parliament. The same hard-hitting style of politics of the PTI outside parliament could do much to energise the house — if the party can bring itself to take parliament more seriously. It is a sad spectacle when the main opposition parties and the government itself appear to regard parliament as an inconvenience and an afterthought.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2017