A statement — perhaps a bluff turned into an embarrassing gaffe — by the PML-N’s Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan has rekindled a debate that remains central to the functioning of politics and state in Pakistan.

The politician said that there was an understanding in the making between his party and the establishment which could restore power to the PML-N. This begs the question why, in all situations, we take interference by the establishment in all political affairs as a given. Rana Mashhood, a former Punjab minister known for his closeness to Shahbaz Sharif, has since retracted his words. His party, led by the ‘pro-reconciliation’ Shahbaz Sharif himself, has distanced itself from the ‘irresponsible’ remarks, and suspended Rana Mashhood’s membership.

Not least, the ISPR chief himself has expressed disappointment over the blooper, while many members of the PTI government have, in truly combative fashion, condemned the thought as utterly absurd. Yet such rumours and thoughts persist — just as they have over the many decades of Pakistan’s history.

It was widely presumed that the errant former provincial minister had thought it wise to talk about the ‘patch-up’ as a ploy to shore up support for his party in the run-up to important National Assembly polls in Lahore, plus the election for the Senate seat vacated by Chaudhry Sarwar. Those who claim to have greater knowledge of PML-N politics insist that, as a comparatively junior member of the party’s statement-firing brigade, Rana Mashhood could not possibly have come up with such ‘details’ about his party’s revival without prior approval from the N-League’s high command.

There is also a view, informed by the history of Pakistani politics, that, from time to time, the PML-N resorts to giving out ‘reassuring’ updates about its relationship with the establishment or risks becoming irrelevant to national politics. Whichever view one might take, there is no escaping the fact that, for most of Pakistan’s history, including the recent past, political parties have historically been resigned to the establishment’s influence on national politics.

The more the politicians — on either side — refute Rana Mashhood’s insinuation of there being some kind of a deal in the making to restore a modicum of authority to the PML-N, the more obvious it is that they are unable to break free of the tradition. That would suggest the long route that the Pakistani democratic caravan still has to travel in order to establish its credentials.

Published in Dawn, October 4th , 2018