CHIEF Minister Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) sounded defiant while addressing a news conference in Peshawar on Tuesday as he stuck to the revised schedule for the proposed long march towards Islamabad. He expressed the resolve to go ahead with the PTI’s planned march on 04 October, announcing the protestors will reach Swabi in the first phase before proceeding further towards the Federal Capital. The CM also claimed that the march would be unmatched in the history of the country and there was a chain of command of workers involved in the march and in case of the disappearance of a leader, another person would replace him.
The plan announced by the CM and similar remarks made by the party Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan raise apprehensions about the drop scene of the prevailing tense atmosphere in which a provincial government is seen challenging the writ of the Federal Government and the latter too is contemplating ways and means to effectively address the situation. As there are growing calls for restraint and flexibility in their positions, Gohar reaffirmed the decision to proceed ahead with the revised schedule of the march and also declared that there was no plan to dissolve the KP Assembly and that the incumbent Chief Minister could not be disqualified. The statements of the CM and the Chairman of the party run contrary to the growing realization among some circles in the party about the need to tone down rhetoric to create space for dialogue and discussions. This was highlighted in a letter that Shaukat Yusufzai, party’s provincial information secretary, wrote to the Chairman and other party leaders urging them to defer the 04 October march, cautioning that proceeding with the protest could increase the risk of emergency rule.
Yusufzai had a point when he contended that the march should be postponed in the wider national interest, particularly given the security situation and increased terrorist activity. He also believed that the Federal Government was building a narrative that the KP Government was not cooperating and that this could lead to attempts to dissolve the Provincial Government or accuse the party of supporting terrorism, potentially leading to a ban on PTI. He cited PTI founder Imran Khan’s own precedent of ending a previous long march to protect workers’ lives and urged the leadership to take his concerns seriously. He called for dialogue with the State rather than confrontation. There are reasons to believe that this was majority thinking in the party but the leadership is adopting a hard stance in their bid to remain relevant. It may be pointed out that the policy of confrontation did not yield any positive results in the past and it is unlikely to produce the outcome desired by the hawks in the party. Dialogue is the only option and it must be given a chance.
The Government also seems to be responsive to the process of talks provided no preconditions are attached for the purpose. This is evident from the statement of Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar who said the Government had not refused talks with PTI but objected to the party making Imran Khan’s release a precondition for dialogue, saying the forum for his release was the courts, not the Government. According to him, while legal and constitutional channels existed, PTI wanted to secure the founder’s release through rallies, processions and marching on cities, which was not possible. The street protests will not only complicate things for the PTI but also for the Government as the tension has created uncertainty and preparations for the march and the counter-measures by the Government have restricted mobility as well as economic activities. The two sides should climb down their rigid positions and sit-across the negotiating table in a spirit of give and take.
