“Shehbaz Sharif is the new prime minister of Pakistan and the first one to sit in this chair for consecutive terms; he is also the second to get here after having served as chief minister of Punjab. He first headed Punjab in 1997, which was 27 years ago.

The election season is yet to end, with the approaching vote for the new president and some Senate seats. It’s perhaps safe to say, Asif Ali Zardari will soon be the new president of Pakistan, a position he last held over 10 years ago, though, of course, his political career began in 1990 when he won a seat in the National Assembly some 34 years ago.

The new Speaker of the National Assembly, Ayaz Sadiq, is now settling down in this position for the third time, having first won a seat in 2002.

Pakistan is a young country and it is also one which is changing rapidly, due to its demography, urbanisation, economics, and much else. And this change from below is putting pressure on our politics and parties. If the tectonic plates below are moving, politics on the surface cannot, and should not, remain as it was decades ago.

And for those who watch politics closely, this is obvious in the parties and movements which are winning the people’s approval. Unfortunately, however, the more established stakeholders seem either oblivious or resistant to change. Government formation at the moment is a case in point.“

Read the full op-ed here.