Pakistan has a chequered history of political agitation with political parties and pressure groups regularly organizing protests and sits-in to demand policy changes or to seek a level-playing field to run election campaigns and have a fair share in the future governments. However, the recent politics in the country, which are mostly marked by a sheer blame game and agitation, has been centered around the demand for free and fair elections. The opposition parties, led by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), accuse the incumbent coalition government of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) of mismanaging the country’s economy and delaying the general elections to manipulate the process to its benefit.
The PIT has organized protests and rallies across in major cities across the country to demand early elections since its ouster from power in April 2022. The government, on the other hand, denies the allegations and accuses the opposition of trying to destabilize the country and incite violence by organizing protest rallies. The government has also used various tactics to suppress the opposition’s protests, such as arresting opposition leaders, banning rallies, and using force to disperse protestors. At a time of sharp political polarization, PTI chairman Imran Khan while speaking in a televised address threatened another massive agitation for implementation of the Supreme Court’s verdict to hold general elections to the Punjab Assembly in May.
Protest is partly a response to citizens’ concerns that they are not being represented well by the government or the state’s institutions. As a result, it is important to understand the nature of, and messages conveyed by, protests. Who is protesting and how often? What messages are they trying to convey? How do the current protests connect (if at all) to other political activities in the country? However, unlike the past, mobilization of political workers to generate enough pressure on the government in the centre will have serious consequences for the political leadership as well as democracy and the rule of law in the country. As hinted by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the launching of street agitation or calling upon its supporters to storm institutions for implementation of the apex court’s decision would bear no fruit for political parties.
The earlier long marches, going back to the PTI’s 124-day Dharana in Islamabad in 2014 and PDM’s protests against PTI government in 2019-20, did not improve governance or the quality of life for the ordinary people. The same is the likely outcome of the current political agitation. However, in the past, such agitations did result in change of government, but such changes were not necessarily to the advantage of those who initiated the agitation. Almost all political parties have successfully showed their strength by staging massive rallies in major cities but none of them has led to resolve the longstanding issues of bad governance, growing economic pressures, a poor law and order situation and a selective or non-existent rule of law.
As the situation remains tense and polarized, with both sides unwilling to back down, the current situation is both complex and sensitive, with deep-rooted political and economic factors at play. It is crucial for all parties of the country to engage in constructive dialogue and find a peaceful resolution to the ongoing political crisis.
