RED ZONE FILES: Surviving change.

Byline: Fahd Husain

There is great disorder under the heavens and the situation is excellent.

Mao Zedong may or may not have said this quote attributed to him but the words continue to find relevance in different eras across different countries - as they do today in Imran Khan's Pakistan.

Mao referred to disorder being the harbinger of change. In Pakistan, change may have become the harbinger of disorder. Which in turn is now spurring talk of the other kind of change. In the last two weeks or so, the federal capital has been humming with chatter about some political transformations in the offing. The prime minister fuelled such speculations when he referred to the 'minus one' formula in his speech on the floor of the National Assembly. Since then varied scenarios of what this transformation could look like have been swirling around in hushed conversations. Some have spilled over into the media and triggered speculation all across the land.

In other words, is the prime minister under threat? The answer lies hidden inside a complex situation situated within a complex political matrix. This matrix links the politics of the Centre to the knotted and tangled situation in Punjab which in turn weaves itself into the increasingly non-linear relationship between Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Park this mega-mix of complications within the contextual cauldron of mal-governance and we have ourselves a mighty fine case of disorder under the heavens echoing with the question: Is the PTI experiment unravelling?

Not so fast, say PTI diehards. They do acknowledge they are being savaged in the court of public opinion, and they relate to Rocky Balboa being punched to a pulp by Ivan Drago in Rocky 4. PTI bravehearts can afford a smile at this analogy. They know who won that fight. The difference however between Rocky Balboa and PTI today is that Rocky had a plan.

The situation on our political front is unravelling according to no plan, actually. This is what makes it so disorderly and so excellent. In the Centre, all talk of 'minus one' is getting bogged down in practicalities - or lack of them. 'Minus one' would mean - one supposes - the continuation of a PTI government without Imran Khan as the prime minister. Many key people within the treasury and opposition benches have already war-gamed this scenario with numbers. But before numbers comes logic. This logic says for a 'minus one' to happen, Imran Khan will need to either step aside voluntarily and make way...