Since the Pahalgam attack on April 22, politicians have almost disappeared from prime-time TV shows in Pakistan. The Pakistan-India conflict and then the Iran-Israel war, these turbulent events led news organisations to troop in national security and foreign policy experts to their studios in place of the regular talking heads. Political discussions evaporated into this air.

And politics?

Here’s the funny thing about politics. It is struggling to return to prime time even now when the conflicts have ended. There’s always the politics around these conflicts, but such topics also bring forth the national security brigade of commentators and experts. It is a strange phenomenon and TV anchors, and their teams are struggling to find political topics that can find traction in such times.

But the issue is far bigger than TV. The new normal is reflecting a new reality: politics as we know it is slowly receding into the background.

The signs are everywhere. The ruling coalition has settled into the rhythm of the hybrid system. Their comfort with hybridity is such that the Defence Minister has praised it on record.

The functional power matrix has been firmly superimposed over the theoretical one, and........

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