THE prime minister took another U-turn on Wednesday. Mr Gilani stated publicly that the army and ISI chiefs were in fact not guilty of bypassing required civilian channels when filing their replies to the Supreme Court in the memo case. The prime minister’s own sacking of the defence secretary for failing to correctly process the military’s responses, and the attorney general’s statement that the army and ISI chiefs had observed proper procedure, had already cast some doubt on Mr Gilani’s charge, which he has now had to retract himself. This is no minor matter given that his significant accusation, and its context and timing, raised political tensions to new heights and turned into a public spectacle, disagreements that should have been thrashed out behind closed doors. It also gave the military an opportunity to issue an unacceptably aggressive rebuttal threatening “grievous consequences” for the country. If it is in fact true, as the prime minister said on Wednesday, that there was lack of clarity about responsibility in the matter such a charge should never have been made, at least not in public.

This risky instance was a shame, because many of the government’s other moves were a refreshing departure from the way democratic administrations have handled pressure in the past. Either succumbing to the dominance of military establishments or lashing out in desperation by trying to sack the army chief, they had failed to successfully navigate the tricky terrain of intra-state relationships in Pakistan. Admittedly the current military leadership seems reluctant to go as far as some of its predecessors did and the judiciary is constrained by having positioned itself as a champion of democracy. But the government spoke boldly as seen in the prime minister’s Jan 13 speech in parliament and the ruling coalition’s National Assembly resolution in support of democracy. Ultimately it survived this crisis, if only for the time being.

The positive note in all this, including Mr Gilani’s latest backtracking, is that tensions between the major players seem to have subsided, at least for the moment. It is unlikely that the snubs, accusations and moves against each other will be forgotten any time soon. But back-channel peacemaking has clearly yielded some breathing room, as the army chief’s recent meetings with the president and the prime minister demonstrate.

Mr Gilani’s remarks on Wednesday should help to sustain this peace. But if crises like these occur in the future, the government would do itself a favour by keeping in mind how one careless statement can further weaken democratic institutions.