T was a quiet weekend on the political front, but perhaps in a crisis that is as confounding as it is protracted no news may be good news at least nothing untoward happened over the weekend. The Aitzaz Ahsan-Nisar Ali Khan war of words that had overshadowed the joint session of parliament looks to be over after the interior minister addressed the media on Saturday and did not instigate further trouble for the PML-N. Meanwhile, the PTI and PAT returned to the respective sites they occupied in the red zone on Aug 19 likely to try and dodge further trouble with the Supreme Court which has been unhappy about the protests significantly disrupting access to state institutions housed on Constitution Avenue. The PTI and PML-N negotiating teams also steered clear of controversy and eschewed tough, unnecessary public statements. Notwithstanding Imran Khan reiterating that he will accept nothing short of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif`s resignation it appears that serious fioods in parts of the country may have dampened the appetite for theatrics and hyperbole on both sides, at least temporarily.

A quiet weekend though does not mean that the PML-N can afford to show anything but urgency in dealing with the PTI and PAT. The government would be mistaken if it thinks the longer the crisis is drawn out the more life will flow out of the protests. The at times paltry numbers gathered during the day at the PTI and PAT protests venues can quickly swell if Imran Khan or Tahirul Qadri decide to move towards Prime Minster House or parliament, as they did two Saturdays ago. Moreover, and perhaps most crucially, it is not known where the army leadership truly stands on the issue. If the army leadership were to stop treating the government and the protesters as co-equals and clearly come out backing the government, the danger to the democratic system at least would pass and make the matter of dealing with the PTI and PAT demands that much easier. The veneer of army neutrality though still remains which is surely a large part of the reason why the crisis continues and why the protesters and their leaders may yet do something reckless.

At this point, it is perhaps important for the civilian interlocutors who have been trying to bridge the differences between the government and the PTI/PAT to redouble their efforts. The PPP and Jamaat-i-Islami leadership in particular have put in a lot of effort already and may find that a concerted push at this stage could bring the government and the protesters to the middle ground that has proved elusive so far. But with the joint session of parliament set to resume today, other parties could also try and play a role in resolving the impasse. The joint session went off track towards the end of the week; perhaps this week parliament can get down to doing some serious work.