PDM does not appear to have a plan. Neither does PTI. This, ladies and gentlemen, is today’s predicament. Islamabad is awash with confusion. There in one corner is the opposition attempting to put up a brave face in a quasi-hopeless situation; over here in the other corner is the PTI government grinning over its survival and nothing more really; and yonder stands the grand old establishment asking itself: “What now?”

It is an unhappy place to be for unhappy people feeling rather unhappy with the outcomes of their actions the past two years or so. Many miscalculations later, all stakeholders have one common thing in mind: how to make the best of a bad situation. The state of the Red Zone is rather grim.

Read: Can the Pakistan Democratic Movement survive?

This grimness is casting a dark shadow over the general state of affairs evident in the capital. None symbolises this gloom more than the ruling party itself. It may be smug in the knowledge that it has survived a scare, and that its Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani appears to be safe now that the Islamabad High Court has rejected Yousuf Raza Gilani’s petition against the outcome of the chairman’s election, but the party can sense the unease in the air. Specially the air over the twin cities.

This unease manifested itself in vivid colours earlier this month when six federal ministers — comprising the so-called kitchen cabinet of Prime Minister Imran Khan — were invited to a meeting in influential quarters. In that meeting, these movers and shakers of the PTI (yes, there were no allies present as per informed sources) were provided unvarnished and brutally honest feedback about their government’s performance — or lack thereof. It was not a happy situation. The dismal situation in Punjab was the focus of the discourse but by no means the only topic that was laid out as an example of poor governance by the PTI. The deeply felt unease was — as per inside accounts — comprehensively downloaded upon the ministers. Many of them must have trudged home with hunched shoulders.

There is general unease. Then there is weapons-grade unease. The PTI was clueless till a few weeks back about the difference between the two. Not anymore.

Question is, what will it do about it? Take Panadol? The hubris that the PTI wears around its neck like an albatross disallows it to shuffle its feet and pivot to an advantageous position. The unease expressed in that famed meeting with the six federal ministers may not translate immediately into any adversarial outcome, but as its reservoir grows, so does its potency. PTI should know. It has benefited from it in the past. The root of PTI’s poor governance — as seen by influential quarters today — is a dangerous combination of lack of capacity and lack of willingness. Willingness? When some obvious changes of key personnel are not done despite overwhelming evidence, it is usually categorised as lack of willingness, even if it is incubated by a lack of options. Reminder: there are always options.

The answer? A cabinet reshuffle — again. As if it helped in the past. In the art of governance, and what constitutes the fundamental of service delivery, the PTI government continues to struggle with cluelessness.

A similar cluelessness is plaguing the opposition — and specifically the PML-N. In another time and in another decade, the N league would have gone for the kill. Here was a situation ripe for putting the opponent to sword by leveraging the growing space between the government and the establishment. But this is 2021 and this is not the old N League. Today the party leadership fuels itself with an ideology-drenched narrative that abhors compromise and relishes the David v Goliath fight. Revolutionary thoughts can give you a high by powering you with a purpose far beyond the pettiness of power pursuits. Yes sir, it sure does.

Till it doesn’t. And that is the confusion that refuses to relinquish its hold over the PML-N despite its best efforts. In a strangely ironic twist, it is this ingrained confusion, and resultant frustration, that PML-N shares with PTI. The similarity is eerie: PTI leadership has the best intentions to bring about a change but its ambition far outweighs its ability to translate this into action; PML-N leadership has the best intentions to change the traditional system and snatch more space from the establishment but its ambition far outweighs its ability to translate this rhetoric into action.

The PDM fiasco has fanned this confusion. It may swing the pendulum away from what is desirable towards what is doable, but here again, PML-N could share a common trait with PTI: becoming hostage to its own rhetoric. The alarm bells are ringing. Someone within the party will have to press the unmute button.

But there is something even more ominous taking place within this grim situation: the Red Zone is shrinking in relevance. The incessant incestuous infighting between the political stakeholders, and the increasingly small and tactical nature of the political battlefield, is pushing political parties off the strategic table. There is a big game afoot in the region, and there are dynamic forces at play between Pakistan and India, but the occupants of the Red Zone are nowhere to be found. Whose fault is this? One could debate the chicken and egg conundrum but the cluelessness of the political parties is an outcome in itself.

Also read: There is hope for Pakistan-India peace process

The Big Ask: have PTI and PDM together dumbed down politics in Pakistan? If the answer to all our problems is a cabinet reshuffle, or mutual name-calling between allies, or political bravado of an internecine nature, then the answer to the big question is not as elusive as some might consider. We are at an unhappy place.

But wait. There’s enough to consume our attention. There’s the salacious gossip about who will get a flag on his car and who will be sent packing; there’s the suspense and drama about Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s hearing at the NAB tomorrow; there’s the tense anticipation about the next meeting between Bilawal Bhutto and Maryam in the wake of their very public spat; and of course there’s the delicious game of predictions about the fate of Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

Why worry? Cluelessness can be bliss.

Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2021