On Friday night, the PTI Chief Imran Khan addressed the nation for the first time after he narrowly escaped an assassination attempt during the party’s long march in Punjab’s Wazirabad. The press conference was delayed which further added to the anticipation and as expected, Mr Khan’s statements and claims are only going to make the political situation in the country a lot more tense in the coming days.
Mr Khan touched upon a number of issues, ranging from the cipher conspiracy to former journalist Arshad Sharif to the ECP. There were a lot of historical references as well which only further illustrated how the PTI’s understanding of the past is devoid of any context and is quite exploitative. Regardless, it works for the PTI extremely well and the party is quite adept at spinning a narrative that is bound to gain traction with its supporters—especially in a time of extreme polarisation.
The extremely unfortunate incident that took place yesterday is being spun exactly as many called it before the press conference took place, and this approach is only going to plunge the nation deeper into this political crisis. The fact that Mr Khan is blaming the PM and Interior Minister for this incident is extremely problematic and seems very opportunistic. It is imperative that all political stakeholders exercise restraint and caution given how deep the fissures appear to be as a result of this turmoil.
Leaders from other political parties must also be wary and sensitive when putting out statements because tempers are high and understandably so. This country has a dark history when it comes to political assassinations and we should be grateful that the worst-case scenario did not play out.
What we need at this point is a display of maturity for all the stakeholders and an attempt to rebuild trust with the public. A thorough investigation must be conducted regarding the events of November 3rd. There are quite a few unanswered questions at this time, such as why there has been such a delay in the FIR registration, and why the SOPs in place for a police detail and bulletproof glass were not followed. Proper procedures must be followed with the utmost transparency. Anything short of that will not be acceptable to a support base that has been convinced into believing that the system is rigged against them.