The latest volley of verbal blows between Imran Khan and the government continue, with the PTI leader currently smarting over being denied access to hold a televised address on PTV. Imran Khan’s inane demand of being allowed to hold a press conference on state television only reflects his desire to be to put himself at odds with the government at every possible opportunity. The leader of PTI must be reminded that while he sees himself as an equal, or perhaps even better than the sitting Prime Minister, there are certain privileges that are only granted to the government in power. Airing a televised address on state media is one.
Given that the media covers all of PTI’s press conferences, a more reasonable demand would have been to allow parliament proceedings of the debate in the National Assembly to be televised. The country has a right to know how their representatives are handling this, especially since it poses questions on their integrity.
On the government’s part, it is good that the Interior Minister has openly allowed for Imran Khan, or others in opposition to name credible individuals from the FIA or other investigative organisations within the country. However, the government has yet to agree to the more important request of holding an empowered judicial enquiry with the current CJP at the head. Given that two of the current CJ’s predecessors have already rejected the government’s request to head the investigation, PML-N could avoid a lot of unnecessary conflict by simply acquiescing to holding a judicial enquiry with sitting judges. That is, if the Prime Minister and his family are as innocent as claimed.
The demand for a transparent enquiry into the Panama Leaks is completely justified. But Imran Khan’s usual threat of a sit-in, this time in Raiwind, is indicative of the usual policy of finding an issue to rile people behind only for politicking purposes. If Imran Khan and PTI are actually concerned about getting to the truth of the matter, then pushing for a judicial enquiry by allying itself with other political parties is a wiser path to take, instead of alienating the others by threatening to hold a sit-in. Right now, the political momentum lies with the opposition, and while it is important to keep highlighting this issue in the interests of holding the government accountable, there is no point in taking to the streets, when there is absolutely no proof that the government or its leaders were even engaged in wrongdoing. If the investigations point the finger at Nawaz Sharif, then Imran Khan can go back to doing what he does best; bring his supporters out on the streets.