Political Alliance Facing Major Crisis, Says Sohail Warraich

ISLAMABAD:Renowned Pakistani journalist and political analyst Sohail Warraich has described the country’s current political situation as a potential precursor to a major administrative and political upheaval, saying the time for decisive choices in the struggle for power and authority has arrived.

In his latest column, Warraich said warning signs had already emerged in Pakistan’s political landscape, comparing the situation to the restlessness observed among animals and insects before an earthquake. He said the risks identified in early June had accelerated due to the political government’s failures on economic and narrative fronts.

Assessing the situation of the ruling coalition, Warraich said the two major partners, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), had been working together largely on the basis of promises without adequate preparation for a political “earthquake.”

He wrote that the coalition was now facing pressure from all sides and that the PPP would have to decide whether to remain aligned with the powerful circles or take the more difficult path of protecting its political identity and ideology.

Commenting on the PML-N leadership’s strategy, Warraich said the party leadership had treated the establishment as the centre of its political strategy for nearly two decades. He claimed the party was prepared to take major steps, including the division of a province, in pursuit of power and political partnership.

However, he said growing unease within the party ranks following the recent warning signs, along with the “mysterious silence” of the party’s top leadership, had raised several new questions.

Reviewing the situation of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the columnist said the importance of the party’s imprisoned leadership had increased following the expected collapse of the political alliance.

He noted that while messages from the party’s leadership in prison suggested that its political position had strengthened, Barrister Gohar and his colleagues were presenting the practical argument that reaching power would not be possible without opening channels of communication with the establishment.

Warraich further wrote that influential decision-making circles had become active in view of KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi’s political journey towards Larkana and PTI’s popularity.

He said PTI would ultimately have to decide whether to become trapped in the politics of compromise and reconciliation, potentially wasting the sacrifices made by its imprisoned leadership, or find a new political path forward.