At a time when the whole nation set aside their differences to welcome an important dignitary on his visit to Pakistan in the interest of the greater good, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf’s (PTI) decision to sideline the opposition leaders from meeting with the Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman is an unwelcome one. It seems that the party cannot seem to step out of a confrontational mood even for such an important national event such as this.

They eventually succumbed to the backlash and returned to senses; allowing a delegation headed by Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani to meet the crown prince on the invitation of the Saudi ambassador in Pakistan.

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry has been at the vanguard of this assault on the opposition, and his comments on this issue were incendiary. The Minister heads an important ministry of the federal government, and his job is not to simply seek opportunities to launch base and petty attacks on the opposition. By questioning the stature of the opposition members — many of whom have already interacted with the Saudi royal family along with many other dignitaries when they were in government -– we show our own nation’s unity in tatters. The Minister Information is not simply defending the party on television talk shows anymore, and it is recommended that he regard all the elected representatives of the government with grace and dignity.

PTI does not need to create an atmosphere where compromises must be made, but its continuous assault –from expressing shock at a Lahore High Court verdict which gave Shahbaz Sharif bail and ordering an appeal, to now petulantly blocking the opposition from meeting the Saudi delegation – is to blame for this political chasm that exists in the parliament.

This is not the way to unite a nation which must achieve milestones at lightning speed, in order to compete globally.