Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry might have made an offer to the Opposition for talks on a wide range of subjects, but it was shot down at once by PML(N) Senior Vice-President Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who has asked pointedly if he had the Prime Minister’s permission. As if to show up Mr Chaudhry, the authorities began proceedings against Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif in connection with the written guarantee he gave to the Lahore High Court for Mian Nawaz Sharif’s return after treatment, when it gave him bail. Apparently constituting a mixed signal, one which allows the government to claim the moral high ground by saying it is the opposition which is refusing to talk on such urgent matters as electoral reform and economic continuity, while appeasing its base, which has not seen any of the vigorous accountability it claimed it would enforce.
That accountability drive has clearly run out of team, and 2021 seems the point at which this happened, for there are now no more PML(N) leaders in NAB custody, all having obtained bail over the course of the year, while the courts saw fit to pass strictures against the National Accountability Bureau, for serving as a tool for the government to persecute opponents. For Mr Chaudhry to offer talks may well be taken with a pinch of salt, as Mr Abbasi’s statement shows the Opposition is doing. However, it does reflect the government’s desperation, what with its need to pass a mini-budget and an SBP autonomy bill so as to stay in good with the IMF, as well as its apparent failure to get those bills passed by the National Assembly. Mr Abbassi’s statement also reflected the possibility that Mr Chaudhry is reflecting the views of the establishment, not Mr Khan, whose own wishes may be seen in the latest moves against Mr Sharif. The latter is seen as being friendlier to the establishment than his brother or niece.
Whatever the inner workings, Mr Chaudhry’s offer should not be abandoned summarily, but explored further. However, it will be for the government, or rather Mr Khan, to come up within a solid offer of talks, which must not only include disclosure of interlocutors, but also make clear the government’s agenda. Such talks should have taken place long before, as now it is possible to foresee the Opposition spending much time on past issues.
