A STORM in a teacup: that is what the dissolution drama has turned out to be. Practically nothing has changed: the Punjab government is back in power; Chaudhry Parvez Elahi is chief minister again; the PPP and PML-N have withdrawn to their lines; and that is how things will stay for the foreseeable future.

The Lahore High Court’s intervention has ensured that each of the players has been allowed a face-saving and can continue to strut their hour upon the stage till the next time Imran Khan tries to introduce a plot twist.

With the guarantee given by Mr Elahi to the court that no dissolution of the Punjab Assembly will be effected for about another three weeks at least, lawmakers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa can also rest easy as their fate is tied to that of the Lahore set-up.

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The Punjab opposition’s withdrawal of the vote of no-confidence pending against Mr Elahi has confirmed that it never had the numbers to oust him in the first place.

There had been earlier signs it was on shaky ground when the governor’s office was brought to bear on the matter in a most undemocratic manner.

Likewise, the Punjab set-up’s meek compliance with a somewhat unusual demand by the Lahore High Court — that the chief minister provide a guarantee that he wouldn’t exercise his powers to dissolve the assembly till its next hearing of the case — belies the fact that the PTI and PML-Q never really intended to go ahead with the nuclear option.

Both sides are now free to make what they may of what transpired this week. The PML-Q and PTI are still thumping their chests and vowing loudly to anyone who’s still listening that the dissolution will be effected on Jan 11 and not a day later.

“Ultimately, the assemblies have to be dissolved — you can take a week or 1.5 weeks but the matter will not stretch beyond that. The assemblies have to dissolve and elections have to happen,” said the PTI’s Fawad Chaudhry post the LHC verdict.

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But as a similar announcement made last Saturday has proved, there can be many a slip between cup and lip. In any case, by the time the LHC’s embargo expires, the timeline for subsequent by-elections would put them too close to Ramazan. No party would want that. Therefore, if the PTI really wants its early elections, its best option is still to sit down with the PDM and negotiate.

If that is out of the question, it should stop shedding crocodile tears over the deteriorating state of the economy and wait till August. The PDM, too, must stop acting like it has all the time in the world.

Considering its seeming inability to manage the economy, it should be making serious efforts to find a way out. As the party in power, it has greater responsibility.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2022