Because to argue either of that would imply someone could have predicted an on-time Senate election minus PML(N) candidates. At least not good in a democracy-chasing sense that our major political parties have desperately wanted the answers to be. The US wants to know what the Haqqanis, LeT and Jaish are worth to us. For better or worse, no one has to pretend any longer that the specific chain of events is predictable or that it does not primarily have something to do with the boys.So, did FATF just save democracy in Pakistan? There lies the illusion democratic types can be misled by. And if the N-League elects its own candidates as Indepe-ndents, it will have to wait and see which side of the aisle the incoming senators choose. But in a way it has also signalled more of the same, rustling around for pinpricks and warnings. If the N-League cancels the Senate election in Punjab or tries to delay the overall Senate election by fighting it out in the courts, it will be the N-League that is fighting democratic continuity.Phew. Ok, let’s get on with the business of the rest of the elections. Prepare to be squeezed harder.Democracy is, and will remain, a domestic struggle. FATF has signalled inventiveness and fresh determination by the US against the boys.The convoluted, theoretical version is the enemy’s enemy is a friend. Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. First came the Balochistan ruse.
Easy enough to explain, small enough to disregard, the coup-inside-the-Assembly lulled folk into thinking the danger had been absorbed, a bullet dodged.But for all the wailing and hysteria when the US turns the screws, there is another side. It drew the PML(N) into its next mistake: nominating halfway decent, relatively senatorial candidates. A Pakistani struggle.The boys haven’t ventured down this path, walked us all this way, only to let Nawaz win the next election and saunter back into power. But the PML-N made its move, nominated mostly goody-goody types, the nomination process closed, the ball left the N-League’s court and, bam!Suddenly, Nawaz is no longer N-League president and, suddenly, the N-League doesn’t have any Senate candidates. The experts may eventually tell us or, more likely, events will.Nawaz is no longer N-League president and, suddenly, the N-League doesn’t have any Senate candidates. So that’s what they had in mind. Forget the specifics of what it entails and when and how.Which brings us to this FATF business. The questions:What is Afghanistan worth to you, America? And what is your relationship with us — Pakistan, a nuclear state — worth to you?The answers to those questions have never been good. But for democratic purposes, it may be enough to know that the questions are being asked.But already it is apparent that FATF is happening because of the US, more specifically the Trump administration. (Photo: AFP) Nawaz got squeezed — again — domestically, the boys got squeezed internationally and between those two confusing, seemingly unconnected things: Did FATF just save democracy in Pakistan?
