President Dr Arif Alvi has raised alarm over rising political temperature in the country, urging all political leaders to get together and steer the country out of ‘misery’. In a brief statement issued on his official Twitter handle on Saturday, President Alvi said another day “in life of Pakistan has passed without catastrophe”. Without divulging details, Mr Alvi described the situation as a ‘narrow escape’, saying any major accident could have happened ‘today’.
The President is not alone in sensing danger as a silent majority of the patriotic people is also alarmed over wrong direction the country is headed for because of selfish pursuits of political parties and major power players. The President did not specify what he actually meant yet his statement came on a day when search operation was carried out by police at Zaman Park residence of PTI chief Imran Khan and intense clashes between his party workers and police personnel outside judicial complex in Islamabad where Khan had come to appear before district and sessions court in connection with Toshakhana case. What the President said also echoed in a clarion call by over a hundred leading civil society organisations, bar councils, human rights bodies, journalists, editors, women, trade union federations and leading intellectuals who have called upon all political parties to resolve their differences over framework and timing of elections through dialogue and mutual agreement. In a statement, they suggested reaching a national consensus in Parliament and holding an All-Parties Conference, as civil society is ready to facilitate it as a concerned and neutral mediator. They pointed out that present political crisis is increasingly becoming intractable, which is accentuating economic woes of the masses. The leadership of major political parties is on a warpath and has left little room for dialogue and accommodation. Before things go out of hands of everybody, we feel extremely concerned about kind of existential crises that may have very grave consequences for the nation.
The apprehensions expressed both by the President and representatives of civil society have also been highlighted by opinion makers during last several months but unfortunately no worthwhile practical step was taken by any personality or institution as extreme positions held by opposing sides have caused serious polarisation in the society right from the family unit to institutional levels. The President expressed his desire to mediate on several occasions in recent months yet he could not materialise his desire into a tangible action plan, as one party to the conflict did not view him as a neutral arbiter. The judiciary had the potential to help resolve crisis yet its image has been tarnished because of tendency to deliver verdicts on considerations other than merit of a case. Luckily, irrespective of what we witnessed in and around Zaman Park residence of Imran Khan in Lahore and judicial complex in Islamabad during last few days, there is a realisation on both sides that things are speedily heading for a catastrophic end. They have expressed their willingness to participate in a dialogue process to resolve the issues involved through peaceful means. There is a ray of hope as members of civil society have moved beyond verbosity in announcing to form an informal group of mediators (The Mediators) to engage with all political parties to start a reconciliation process to forge a national consensus on holding of free, fair and transparent elections to all assemblies on a mutually agreed time-frame.
The Pakistan Bar Council has agreed to host an All-Parties Conference, if major political parties respond to this call. This is a positive development and we hope all sides would respond positively when approached with concrete proposals for a dialogue process. Consensus on elections and electoral reforms is a must as, otherwise, elections will not gain required credibility when two sides are not ready to trust any move or plan conceived or initiated by the other. In given situation, elections are likely to deepen political crisis, a possibility that the country cannot afford in view of its economic conditions and visible and invisible pressure on the state to put its core interests on backburner. A satisfactory solution can be found if supremacy of Constitution is accepted and upheld by all stakeholders.
