IT has been encouraging to see the country’s chief executive taking a far more mature approach than many in his own camp, even as partisan commentators seem intent on pouring more fuel on the smouldering fire that is national politics. Soon after the opposition delayed its protest march to Islamabad late Friday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif invited the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, for direct talks, including on appointing a new chief election commissioner. The PM, who was in New York for the UN General Assembly at the time, wasted no time in making use of the space provided by the postponement. Regrettably, some of his ministers seemed keener on seeing another confrontation. One expects Mr Achakzai, a seasoned politician, to respond positively to the gesture and accept the invitation for talks. The PTI and its allies, too, must abandon siege politics. The country is at the edge of a precipice, but there is a chance yet that mature decision-making could pull it back.

The way this government has responded to the challenge posed by the opposition’s protest march has done it little credit. At first, it seemed the authorities were overreacting to the prospect of another siege of the federal capital. Yet with that siege averted, at least for the time being, instead of relief we see government representatives and their media allies either goading the PTI government in KP or fantasising about overthrowing an elected government on the tired pretext of national security. As this paper noted earlier, this fight between political factions was being pushed in a dangerous direction by casting it as a confrontation between a province and the federation in the official narrative. Cutting off that province’s road links to the federal capital further reinforced that impression. Mr Sharif’s good intentions must now prevail. The country needs restraint from both sides and clear-eyed leadership from him.

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2026