YET another week of hope and trepidation appears to lie ahead for the country. Today, the PML-N and the PTI are set to kick off another round of talks centred on an inquiry into PTI allegations of fraud in the May 2013 general election and a raft of much-needed electoral reforms to make future elections more acceptable and credible.

But the PTI also looks set to continue with its so-called Plan C, with the focus switching to the ultimate political battleground in Punjab — Lahore itself. On both fronts, there are many potential complications. For one, the round of talks to begin today are going to be held in private — thus depriving the public of knowledge of what is being negotiated on their behalf by their present and would-be representatives. It is odd that secret negotiations need to be held when it comes to determining whether the voting public was denied legitimate and transparently elected representatives in May 2013. Moreover, with the respective positions of the PML-N and PTI not staked out in public, there is always the possibility of one or the other side either reneging on promises or denying publicly what it may have conceded in private. Hopefully more transparency will be delivered than has been promised.

On the arrival of Plan C in Lahore and then nationally, the risk is obvious: a repeat of the Faisalabad episode or worse. In Faisalabad, the PTI’s aggressive tactics and the PML-N’s aggressive response created a situation where a life was lost and many more lives were endangered. Lahore has already witnessed one unacceptable and horrifying incident this year, in Model Town on June 19 when several Tahirul Qadri supporters were killed in clashes trigged by police action, and another bout of violence could have all manner of serious consequences. Perhaps both the PTI and the PML-N can learn from the Karachi experience, where PTI protesters were organised but not threatening and the local administration maintained a hands-off approach. It is not often that Karachi can be a template for other cities in terms of managing risk, but surely the administrators of Lahore — and the PML-N leadership — need to study both the Faisalabad and Karachi experiences and learn from them.

Ultimately though, the question has to be asked: for how long can this go on? The impasse and the protests could go on indefinitely, but only if the PTI and PML-N continue with their selfish, often destructive style of politics. Protest is a democratic right, but after laying siege to Constitution Avenue in Islamabad, the PTI has moved on to disrupting daily life and business in some of the country’s biggest cities and economic hubs. The PTI has slipped far from the politics of hope it once championed. As for the PML-N, it seems to have lost its way and forgotten its responsibilities as custodian of the democratic process. Perhaps the week ahead could mark a turnabout. 

Published in Dawn December 14th , 2014