ISLAMABAD -  As the Joint Investigation Team(JIT) probing the prime minister and his family’s assets will present its report to the Supreme Court today (Monday), the political temperature is on the rise as neither the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leadership nor the opposition parties particularly the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) seemed interested in pacifying the situation.

For the past couple of days, frontline leaders and the Federal Cabinet members of the PML-N had unleashed a tirade of criticism rather allegations against the JIT members and also linking the probe as part of an international conspiracy to de-seat Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

In a threatening tone, the sober federal cabinet members Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Ahsan Iqbal announced not to accept the JIT report if it did not carry the Qatari prince’s testimony. They further pointed the finger on a couple of JIT members whose animosity with the Sharif family was known, furthering the anger of the already raged PML-N supporters who considered the whole exercise a part of a conspiracy to dislodge the PML-N-government.

The political temperature was already touching the boiling point when tweets of Ms Maryam Nawaz added fuel to it. In her tweet, on Sunday afternoon Ms Maryam said,” “Woh Mard Nahi Jo Dar Jaye …..”(One who fears is not a man). She said in her another tweet, “If you have turned it into a political battle, no one can fight it better than the PML-N.”

Political observers saw such provocative messages to their workers a dangerous trend as, on the other hand, PTI chief Imran Khan had also given a call to his party activists and the whole nation to come out in defence of the Supreme Court which he saw under threat from the ruling PML-N which had not a very good track record in this regard.

These political observers said that such statements and slogans from the party leaders both from the ruling and opposition parties have full potential to trigger a civil war like situation in the country, which would, in no way, will suit the democratic order.

Sources in the ruling PML-N confirmed to The Nation that the press conference by the four leading federal ministers on Saturday was held with the approval of the prime minister as all of them drove straight to the Press Information Department from the Prime Minister’s House.

They straight away come up with a caution to the JIT as well as the apex court that any report which would not contain the Qatari prince’s testimony would not be acceptable to them and in a way implied that any decision of the apex court on the basis of the biased and incomplete report would also fall short of the requisites of justice.

These sources said that the ruling party was preparing a ground for challenging the findings of the JIT in the apex court and, under a well thought out strategy, the PML-N leaders had dragged the JIT into controversy.

Even the prime minister himself had ridiculed the JIT terming the whole exercise a frivolous exercise just to create hindrance in the way of fast-track economic development in the country. He gave a veiled reference to some elements behind the whole saga but did not elaborate who actually was conspiring against his government.

The way the ruling party ministers and MPs were hurling allegations at the JIT showed that they were not accepting anything favourable from the probe body, so it would suit them to make it controversial as in this way they would also be levelling ground for challenging it in the apex court, while on the other hand, they would be playing with the sentiments of their voters and supporters to keep them intact, a senior parliamentarian commented.

Legal experts were of the view that as previously the three-member apex court bench looking after the matter had strictly directed the JIT head to come up with the report within the given timeline when he had asked for giving some more time for completion of his investigation, so it is believed that the final report would be furnished today (Monday).

However, the apex court keeping in view the objections of the PML-N could ask the JIT to travel to Qatar to record the statement of Prince Hamaad bin Jasim.

Whatever would be the outcome of the JIT investigation, and later the Supreme Court verdict in the case, the top leadership of all the political parties should observe restraint and help lower the political temperature instead of flaring it up by their fierce speeches because any clash or bloodbath in the aftermath of the apex court verdict would pave the way for wrapping up of the system.