Between the idea and the reality falls the shadow, but Nawaz Sharif has little time for such wisdom. He prefers shadow-boxing with ideas to taking stock of the reality. On May 12, Mr Sharif pulled out his Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) from the six-week-old coalition government because his ally, Asif Ali Zardari of the Pakistan People’s Party, failed to honour the renewed deadline for the restoration of the judges sacked by Pervez Musharraf. The PML(N) ministers have offered their resignations from the cabinet, though Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is yet to accept them. Mr Sharif has given assurance that his party would continue to support the government on an “issue-by-issue” basis, but the anxiety remains. The new government was supposed to give Pakistan a stable political structure after years of insecurity. Intrinsic to its vision of a modern Pakistan was a free judiciary, separate from the executive, and kept out of the bounds of political intervention. Mr Sharif and Mr Zardari are both in agreement over the principle, but differ on the modalities to be followed in restoring the deposed judges. The PPP refers to the 2006 Charter of Democracy to accompany the parliamentary resolution along with a constitutional amendment that would return the old judges, while keeping the ones Mr Musharraf had brought in during his reign. But Mr Sharif wants a supreme court with all powers restored to it unconditionally. The court could then remove Mr Musharraf from office by declaring his election and the emergency called by him unconstitutional.

Evidently, Messrs Zardari, Sharif and Musharraf are engaged in a cat-and-mouse game, motivated as much by realpolitik as by personal animosity. Mr Zardari is not favourably disposed towards the dismissed chief justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry, who apparently hounded him on corruption charges in the Nineties. Mr Musharraf, on the other hand, ousted Mr Sharif in a coup in 1999. With such personal stakes, this stalemate is not going to get any better unless the stakeholders look beyond their insecurities. The Karachi stock exchange has plummeted since Monday, while unrest in tribal areas continues. Pakistan also needs to free itself from the reputation of religious fundamentalism. Given these daunting responsibilities ahead, every step ought to be measured. Politics might be the art of the possible, but possibilities are often forced to give way to practicalities.