Amidst growing concern for the democratic order and increasingly menacing rhetoric by the PTI, and elements within the PML-N too, have come sensible directives from the Islamabad High Court.

The PTI is to hold its Nov 2 rally in an authorised space in Islamabad, while the government is forbidden from blocking roads and taking extreme counter-measures to prevent the PTI from holding its rally — counter-measures that would deprive the public from its right to free movement.

Instantly, however, the PTI rejected the judicial attempt at bringing order to the party’s plans and Imran Khan has vowed to go ahead and enforce a so-called lockdown of the federal capital. Extraordinarily, the political slugfest between the PTI and PML-N appears to have already accelerated to the point where orders by the superior judiciary itself are regarded as a mere distraction.

As if to underscore the increasingly bare-knuckled nature of the fight, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Mr Khan have engaged each other in a bitter political argument over alleged corruption by the PML-N, with Mr Sharif vowing to move the courts against the PTI supremo on grounds of defamation.

The vicious, personal barbs hearken back to a dark period in this country’s political history: in the 1990s the endless, bitter squabbling between the PML-N and the PPP eventually led to the wrapping up of the democratic order, following widespread public disillusionment with both parties. Mr Khan was only a political neophyte then, his PTI having been formed in the latter half of the 1990s. But the Sharif family ought to know better.

Whatever Mr Khan’s provocations and unbridled ambitions, it is undeniable that had Prime Minister Sharif accepted an independent and thorough probe of the first family’s wealth and assets following the revelations in the Panama Papers, the country would not be on the edge of a precipice today.

While neither side appears to be in a mood to back down, it is perhaps important to reiterate what is at stake. The 1990s too was a repetition of an earlier period in this country’s history.

Indeed, if there is one constant in Pakistan’s political history it is that when opposition politicians and the civilian leadership engage in unbridled sparring, it is the anti-democratic forces that ultimately triumph. Or as the inimitable Asma Jahangir has warned, politicians should be careful to not saw off the very branch of the tree that they are sitting on.

An energised political landscape contesting issues of public importance and suggesting different policies is one thing. But a divided, bitter polity, led by ego-driven and vengeful politicians, is a short hop away from the ultimate breakdown.

Imran Khan wants to be a first-time prime minister, while Nawaz Sharif wants to be an unprecedented fourth-term prime minister — but at what cost to the democratic system?

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2016