EVEN if it is too early to be optimistic, the development has come as a pleasant surprise. On Wednesday, despite all their differences, the chief minister of KP and the prime minister of Pakistan managed to have “good talks” regarding the future of their relationship.

“It was very positive,” KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur told reporters after his tête-à-tête with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on public and provincial issues, law and order and other matters.

“He [the PM] gave full support and reassurances,” Mr Gandapur added, speaking about the need for the federal and provincial governments to solve public issues together.

Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, who represented Mr Sharif in the media briefing, also appeared satisfied, noting that the prime minister had promised that the province’s dues would be looked into and other issues addressed via a joint team comprising representatives of the federal and KP governments.

“The summary of today’s meeting is … [that] we all have our own politics, but the state is together,” he said.

Even the new information minister, who started his day by accusing the PTI of conspiring to sabotage the GSP-Plus trade arrangement with the EU, later agreed that the meeting was a welcome development.

Speaking during an evening interview on a private TV channel, he commented that if such interactions continued, Pakistan could move towards a resolution of its economic problems.

Though PTI leader Hammad Azhar later felt compelled to state that the meeting shouldn’t be seen as a compromise by his party on the alleged theft of its mandate and the incarceration of its workers and leaders, the two matters need not be conflated.

The federation cannot stop functioning while election disputes and the fate of arrested individuals are negotiated, and it makes good sense, therefore, for the PTI government in KP and the PML-N government in Islamabad to maintain a stable working relationship.

It is a mature way of dealing with political conflict. Moreover, it provides an opportunity to build some confidence on both sides.

Given that the balance of power is currently in his favour, perhaps Mr Sharif can also consider other options to bring down temperatures, including pushing for the quick release of political prisoners.

If politicians can agree to resolve their grievances between themselves, half of the crises will be over.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2024