The governments of PPP and PMLN have been dismissed before the completion of their tenures in the 90s. After 2008 PPP’s Yousuf Raza Gilani and PMLN’s Nawaz Sharif were required to leave office prematurely. While the parties protested, they did not challenge the system. Benazir Bhutto’s assassination could have led to extremely strong reaction but it was contained by Zardari’s “Pakistan Khapay.” This is how one expects PTI to react. A leader’s or a party’s interests must remain subservient to the country’s interests.
This has not unfortunately been so in the case of the PTI. Soon after the success of the no-confidence move, a number of PTI leaders started targeting the establishment and superior judiciary through suggestive and disparaging remarks. Now two leading figures of the former PTI establishment are blatantly hinting at a civil war if elections are not held immediately. Fawad Chaudhry has said the country was on the verge of civil war and even Imran Khan “won’t be able to stop this very angry mob and we will see country plunging into a civil unrest.” The angry mob he refers to are PTI supporters. In a similar vein Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed has warned that the country was heading towards a civil war and holding fresh elections was the only way to ensure stability.
The system in Pakistan is being run under a unanimously accepted constitution. The allied government came to power through a no-confidence move sanctioned by the SC. An independent judiciary is in place and has stopped govt from arresting PTI leaders. Elements in the allied govt have strongly opposed use of blasphemy laws against PTI leaders, indicating that the opposition is likely to be treated fairly. The PTI has therefore no reason to complain that it is being pushed to the wall. The NA is in place and has not accepted the resignations by PTI MNAs who would be welcomed if they withdraw resignations. The country has a strong army that can deal with those who try to destabilse the county.
Those who talk about civil war must realize the tragic outcome of the civil war in Lebanon: thousands killed and maimed, hundreds of thousands made homeless, infrastructure destroyed and the state flat-out broke. No cause is good enough to encourage a civil war which will only suit countries hostile to Pakistan.
