THE pre-poll show is on once again. The so-called political dissidents have taken centre stage, saying they can no longer suppress the urge to dissociate themselves from a party they had so much against.

The ball was set rolling in Balochistan with the application of an odd formula. The provincial assembly remained. The PML-N was thrown out of power.

A new party emerged on its rubble to rule the province. In between, we saw a Senate election that was tackled, without much ado, with the alleged help of groups of politicians who always appear at hand to help their ‘masters’.

In fact, this trend of changing loyalties is on the increase. There have been large-scale exits from the already weakened MQM in Karachi.

The Pak Sarzameen Party has been the beneficiary, and its election prospects have received a boost, and doubts about it being the chosen banner have been summarily dismissed. And even though the PPP, in the run-up to the general elections, could have been viewed as ‘pro-establishment’, a closer look reveals that the party may be facing opponents it would like to tag as planted.

Besides Sindh and Balochistan, KP is in the midst of finding its own dissidents and then adjusting them in the right parties.

The big game, of course, is, as always, Punjab. Here, it seems that it is time for the old horse PML-N to give way to fresh arrivals from the stables — and some among them are inevitably, and aptly, going to be tagged as the king’s parties.

One such party emerged in Lahore on Monday. It comprises a handful of MNAs and ‘influential’ figures from southern Punjab who have risen up to the call for a Seraiki province. These are by no means old, diehard PML-N politicians, but they do form the vanguard which is likely to inspire a rebellion deep inside the Sharif camp.

All these politicians are fully within their rights to cross over and be counted on the other side. But the problem is that in their move together, there is a clear indication of some troubling formula at work. Perhaps this is no occasion to be speaking in riddles.

Plainly stated, this is simply a re-enactment of what happens in the run-up to the polls. And the fear remains that the rest of the show may also be replete with the same old details.

Published in Dawn, April 10th, 2018