Collective resignations: A calculated gamble or political suicide?

Ishtiaq Ahmed

The decision by the PTI to collectively resign from the Nationally Assembly is politically flawed. The reason being given is that PTI can’t be seen to be lending credibility to the alliance government that has allegedly conspired in a foreign plot to oust Imran Khan and his government.

One understands the PTI rank and file feeling grossly incensed at the events of the past week.

The decision to collectively resign is flawed on a number of accounts:

1. PTI has forfeited its right to challenge, question, and consistently have its position explained and recorded in the analogues of the Parliament for any future reference.
2. It has given a free hand to the newly formed alliance government to move forward unhindered and unchallenged. 

In the democracy of any description, absolute power is not with an individual but is a ‘collective’ thing. Also, things are never black and white. There are always some shades of grey which need to be discerned and carefully mitigated. This can’t happen on the streets, by opting out of a democratic process. 

If the no-confidence motion was a wrong precedent, the decision to opt-out of a constitutional democratic process is equally wrong. It undermines the sanctity of every democratic institution that the PTI seeks to protect.

Instead, the PTI should have gone for a three-prong approach:

1. Should have stayed on the opposition benches to challenge, expose and question the legitimacy of the alliance government, using it as an opportunity to explain its side of the story, consistently, with clarity and force.
2. To combine the above with the peaceful public mobilization demanding elections to be activated with an immediate effect.
3. Intensify public pressure on the appropriate authorities to take action on the conspirators of the foreign plot on merit.