The tell tale signs are not comforting. We are back again to the same old rhetorical and very historical political confrontation. The same old PPP and PML-N acting like two naïve school children and the war of words is heating up, day by day.

Add some other actors to this mix and you have a full scale upheaval on the horizon. The usual spectators on the sidelines are watching with bated breaths, salivating and perhaps dreaming for another long stint in Islamabad. The ones who are always time tested and supposedly the only institution within the country, that’s considered to be reliable and stable.

There are pundits and experts who have written off the concept of democracy in Pakistan. For them it is all a “Western and a foreign concept.” Pakistan and Pakistanis, according to their analysis, only understand the “rule of danda.” A couple of years back, there was some sense of maturity taking some nascent roots, when the CJ was restored. With time, it seems like that fervour has dissipated completely.

The politicians may be not the reflection of angels from heaven, but a little known secret, still better than the “self appointed khakis.” The people who tend to show their disdain for the corrupt politicians tend to forget, political maturity is a process. Weeding out the unnecessary ones and looking for better ones is a right of the citizens. The information revolution has changed many landscapes around the world. In this day and age, deception and lies cannot be traded. People are way too “smart” and cannot be fooled.

The ongoing tussle between PML-N and PPP, where Mian Sahib has issued ultimatums and PPP in its response wants to introduce no confidence motion in Punjab Assembly to dislodge the Shahbaz Sharif government, are to say the least disheartening.

To the ones who are expecting miracles from Imran Khan, please come to the real world. Imran, despite his best of wishes or aspirations, cannot garner support to win any major place. The people who brought him to this game, are not so wildly popular either.

Same goes for Altaf Bhai, as entertaining his claims or speeches are, he is not making a triumphant return to Nine zero. His party at best is what it is famous for and with all the efforts of expanding itself to a mainstream political party, cannot really get away from its shadowy past.

Musharraf’s APML is more of a pie in the sky. He has a plethora of cases against him and the only way he can make a comeback is, if he now gets to make a “deal” with someone. Even if that happens, he cannot make a dent, without leaning on his traditional allies, the Q League (his own invention) and the all weather trusted MQM. Assuming, if that happens, forming a government in the presence of arch rival Nawaz Sharif will be close to impossible.

So in the end, we have two real players, who have to show signs of maturity and live up to their so hyped up, “Charter of Democracy.” Lately, both have been pretending to be signatories of “Charter of Idiocy.”

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