Democracy’s march towards maturity As these lines are being written, the government’s negotiating team composed of ministers is holding talks with Maulana Tahirul Qadri regarding his demands, in the hope that some agreement can be hammered out that will allow the Maulana to call off the sit-in in Islamabad and spare the country (and the rally participants) further unnecessary misery. This development followed the deadline of 3:00 pm on Thursday set by the Maulana for a government response, otherwise he said it would be responsible for the consequences. The ‘consequences’ were not spelt out, but concern centred on the possibility of the rally participants attempting to advance on parliament and other sensitive government buildings at the end of Constitution Avenue, which the police and security forces deployed around the rally seemed to be under instructions to prevent at any cost. Earlier, reports in the media speculated about the use of force against the crowd if the Maulana refused to yield to reason, especially since Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira had rejected the Maulana’s demands on Wednesday in a press conference by dubbing them unconstitutional. Reportedly, President Asif Ali Zardari overruled the use of force. Instead, the government wisely opted for talks to try and defuse the situation and offer the Maulana a face-saving retreat. The government’s hand had been immeasurably strengthened by the consensus of the opposition parties gathered by PML-N chief Mian Nawaz Sharif in Lahore on Wednesday, a moot that delivered a very clear message. The consensus spoke of resisting the anti-democratic forces attempting to derail the system on the cusp of a democratic transition. The opposition also gave voice to what many sensible people have been advocating since the ‘crisis’ overtook the country. They urged the government not to waste even a moment in announcing the dates (and composition?) of the caretaker setup and the elections after consultations with all the political parties. Both the president and the prime minister welcomed the opposition’s considered and wise stance. The president charged the prime minister with contacting all the political parties for the purpose. Meanwhile on Thursday, while the negotiations with Qadri were still continuing, the president summoned a session of the National Assembly for January 21, which sparked off speculations that an announcement regarding the caretaker setup and elections may be made during the session. Interestingly, Imran Khan’s PTI refrained from accepting Qadri’s invitation to join the sit-in, reiterating its commitment to follow the path of elections and upholding the democratic order. Perhaps the steady but seemingly irreversible dribbling away of support for the Maulana’s demands may have finally persuaded him to seek a dialogue and even abandon his earlier insistence that he would only negotiate with the president. So what was being discussed in Qadri’s ‘bunker’? His four demands, which he reiterated on Wednesday, comprised dissolution and re-creation of a new election commission, election reforms before holding elections based on the provisions of Articles 62, 63, 218 (regarding candidates’ honesty, etc), allowing the election commission one month to vet candidates’ eligibility on this touchstone, dissolution of the National and provincial Assemblies, and last but not least, the caretaker setup to be decided not just on the basis of the two main parties’ consensus. The Maulana’s desire for an election commission of his choice when the current one enjoys credibility and acceptance by the political parties does not make sense. The honesty criterion can only be implemented on the basis of whether any candidate has been proved guilty of misdemeanour by the courts. Dissolution of the Assemblies will automatically follow the announcement of the date of the elections; the Maulana should therefore acquire some sensible patience. The caretaker setup that so agitates the Maulana will be created by the consensus of all the parties, not just the two main ones, so this demand too is more hot air than substance. Hopefully, the government’s negotiators should be able to bring the frothing Maulana down to earth with logic and reason, and persuade him to call it a day as far as the sit-in is concerned. If and when the standoff is resolved, the government and opposition should not sit on their hands but urgently address the programme for the elections so as to cut out any further attempts to derail the democratic process. The whole episode though, is an indication of the slow but steady march of democracy towards maturity, a long overdue goal for our troubled country.