A YEAR on from the Imran Khan- and Tahirul Qadri-led attempt to oust the PML-N government, the repercussions are continuing. The first anniversary of the beginning of the four-month-long sit-in in Islamabad has resulted in an extraordinary set of allegations by a member of the federal cabinet and frontline PML-N spokesperson, Mushahidullah Khan, that resulted in an immediate firestorm. That it came only weeks after the Supreme Court-led inquiry commission rejected the core of the PTI’s allegations regarding the May 2013 general elections and after the PML-N itself had taken a generally conciliatory and forward-looking approach towards the whole affair makes the senator’s comments especially perplexing. Either the PML-N is not convinced by its own rhetoric that damaging as the dharna was, the country needs to move on or the PML-N is unable to maintain party discipline and avoid shooting itself in the foot. Neither of those explanations is particularly comforting. Simply, this was an entirely unnecessary and avoidable firestorm.

In a more evolved, deeper democracy the events of last year would never have happened. The PTI and Tahirul Qadri tried to use street power to oust a legitimately elected government on the flimsiest of grounds. Principal blame for the whole sordid affair rests with those two groups, then. But it should also not be forgotten that the whole affair was turbocharged by a sense that the military had not backed the elected government. Had that been the case, the widespread apprehensions that the government was at risk and that democracy itself may be in trouble would never really have been present. Instead, the military chose to announce its neutrality in the matter, effectively putting an elected government and a patently unreasonable street movement on the same level. Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri explicitly tried to involve the military in their ouster bid too and at one time Mr Khan even travelled to GHQ to meet the army chief, who briefly appeared to play the role of interlocutor between the government and its opponent. There was also the memorable ISPR statement pledging neutrality and urging a political settlement at the height of the drama.

Clearly, civil-military relations remain a complicated affair. The PML-N has been bullied on occasion and the military is becoming ever-more forthright about its internal role, be it in Karachi, Fata or in certain legislative matters. It is not really clear what the government, indeed the political class as a whole, can do to slow down the ingress, let alone reverse it and work towards constitutional civilian supremacy. The PML-N does appear outmatched, unwilling or unable to bring to bear the accumulated experience of three terms in power to the problem. Perhaps Mushahidullah Khan decided to speak out on his own and did so out of deep frustration. But the fallout from the senator’s comments have only worsened the situation.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2015

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