AFTER the weekend deliberations in the federal capital concluded with both the opposition and government camps calling for dialogue, some political ‘in-betweeners’ have also chimed in with helpful suggestions.

On Monday, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman suggested fresh elections as a way to turn a new leaf and break the political deadlock. In the maulana’s estimation, an electoral reset would help the nation move on from this era, which has seen two governments born of what he described as ‘rigged’ elections.

“Neither the 2018 elections nor the 2024 polls reflected the will of the people,” the maulana said. “The governments born out of establishment-backed rigging should come to an end. From Sindh to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, these governments should be brought to an end, and fresh elections must be held across the country.”

His is not an unfair assessment, even if his own political history is not untouched by the compromises he now decries; nor is the demand novel or unreasonable.

But it is well-timed. With opposition parties calling for a new charter of democracy, and the government signalling openness for dialogue, the maulana has highlighted the root of their dispute. In the maulana’s view, both the present dispensation and those who ruled in the previous setup must accept that the electoral process that brought them to power was an unfair one.

So much has been documented regarding this matter since 2018 that it is unreasonable for either party not to concede this much. Yet both continue to act as if they have not, at different moments, benefited from the corruption of the electoral process. The PTI still refuses to accept that its ‘victory’ in 2018 was a tainted one, even after finding itself at the wrong end of the same tactics used to engineer electoral outcomes in 2024. Unless it accepts this, it cannot credibly demand reform or claim the moral high ground it now seeks.

Likewise, the PML-N and PPP, despite appearing to be aware of the realities of the 2024 general election, never stopped and reconsidered whether accepting such a ‘victory’ would delegitimise their politics in the eyes of the people. They have lost much in this Faustian bargain, and it is understandable why they, too, need a reset. Which is why the conditions seem to be conducive for a new charter.

If both sides concede that the other was wronged, agree to stop victimising opponents, reverse their poor decisions, and agree on a modus vivendi that involves civilised opposition even if it is unyielding in its principles, there is a good chance that they will make decent headway. Their fight has been long, and it has hurt the nation. Much may still be redeemed if they choose to end it in a civil manner.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2025