Tsunami?
Let me start by saying that I am a fan of Imran Khan. I loved him as a cricketer, and I admire him as a defiant politician. Despite years of turpitude, he did not sell his soul to the devil in exchange for political success, has remained financially honest, and finally seems to have developed a public-following, large enough to bring about meaningful change in this land.
And because I like Imran Khan – I want to believe in his promise and support his cause – I would hate to see his fail. Which, sadly, is what I fear is about to happen.
Let me explain.
The Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI) and Imran Khan, have already passed the legitimacy test (which is frequently the biggest hurdle in politics). They have established themselves as a potent political force to reckon with. And they did so, last October, without borrowing any wisdom or support from Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Javed Hashmi, Khurshid Kasuri, Shahfqat Mehmood, Afzal Sindhu or their likes.
However, sadly, despite having been catapulted from the minor leagues into a party with national appeal, the PTI’s focus has not shifted from ‘building a party’ (through induction of alleged big-wigs from other parties) to ‘building the country’. And this is symptomatic of political immaturity.
Let’s pause and try to understand what might be the wisdom behind Imran Khan’s opening the party doors to a genre of individuals that the old-guard of PTI has spent its entire political life opposing. Why reach out to individuals with questionable loyalties and tainted political allegiances? Why do press-conference after press-conference to ‘launch’ people who will not stand with PTI for a moment longer than it is convenient or expedient for them? Has the mighty Khan misjudged this game? Does he actually believe that these individuals, who up until yesterday were exactly the junta that PTI struggled against, have now truly and earnestly ‘changed’?
Or instead, is this simply a politically dexterous exercise of gathering enough ‘winning candidates’, regardless of their political histories, before the election … sort of getting your ducks in line?
If a blind man on the street can see that (some of) these new PTI champions are only loyal to their personal ambition, and will consider jumping ship the moment it serves their political interest, we’d have to assume that Khan sahab is cognizant of this fact too.
What then, might be the reason to include them in PTI today, jeopardising the party’s integrity in the process? The answer is less than complicated, and can be summed up in one word: Electibility! These individuals are more ‘electible’ in their constituencies than some of their (less tainted) counterparts.
This brings us to the next question. Why do PTI and Imran Khan want ‘electibility’ over integrity in their new members? Does this mean that Imran Khan believes that individual personalities, and not party appeal or the overall message of PTI, will win the elections? And if so, then how is the PTI politics, built around individuals and not some overarching message of hope and progress, any different from that of the other parties that the nation has tried, tested and been disappointed by countless times?
This, in many ways, is a crisis of confidence. Khan Sahab seems to be unsure that his message of hope is resonating with the downtrodden masses. As though the message itself is not ‘electible’ and therefore the party needs electible personalities. Khan Sahab must be reminded that we believe in his ability to bring about progressive change through a mobilisation of the faceless people of this country… and not through the changing of guard from among the symbols of status quo. People came to the Lahore jalsa of Imran Khan not because of the ‘electibility’ of the man addressing them, but despite it. The target audience of Khan Sahab’s message is not the PPP or PLM-N jiyalas, who support their candidates because of how many favors that candidate (once elected) can lend them. PTI’s appeal is to that silent majority that wants to see the collective destiny of our nation improve, and therefore would vote for the message being delivered more so than the men and women delivering it.
The generation who grew up following Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s message of ‘roti, kapra aur makaan’, across the dusty fields of this nation often narrates the stories of how, in the 1971 elections (not the 1977 elections), virtually unknown individuals got elected on the People’s Party ticket! Because Bhutto’s message had seeped into the national conscience. Imran Khan and PTI have the opportunity of doing something equally fantastic. If only Khan Sahab would believe that people have heard what he has had to say. And that, if anything, the presence of tainted personalities of the past weakens his message, not strengthen it.
Politics is about perception. I once heard Imran Khan make a speech in which he described that during his five years in the Parliament (between 2002 and 2008), he observed a very weird phenomenon in our legislative assembly: members from one side of the isle stand up and hurl accusation of past corruption and misconduct on members from the other side. The other side, then, does not get up to say ‘we have not been corrupt’… but instead reply with similar allegations about the accuser. As a result, after a while, everyone just shuts-up because none of the parties (and their members) can claim to have a spotless record. And so the business of the state continues in the status quo manner because each side has skeletons in the closet.
I think about that speech. And I wonder: if the PTI comes to power (with the current roster of big-wigs) would things be any different?
The writer is a lawyer based in Lahore, with a keen interest in fundamental and constitutional rights. Previously, he was Vice President in the Global Markets & Investment Banking Group of Merrill Lynch, New York. He has a Masters in Constitutional Law from Harvard Law School. He can be reached at: saad@post.harvard.edu
The views expressed by this blogger and in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.
He should be given a chance after all he is a representative of change in Pakistan.
Imran Khan and PTI are on the right track, you can expect to win a landslide vote, the people in urban areas have a bit of freedom, come small towns they are still in the grip of the powerful so his options are still to negotiate on grasping power, as he has missed his opportunity with Musharraf, something a lot of people wish he had taken that route, come to power and deliver results, rest people will slowly accept you, rather than fill your brief-case and go scoot.
Reblogged this on razalex and commented:
Good read
well in pakistani politics you have to do this to bring change in the system because all the public is not educated so plz do not critisized every single move give him achane
Dear saad..
I absolutely agree with you.yo have beautifully anaysed the situation and terrifically put it alltogeher.great.Yes I love Imran khan.Iam a die hard fan.But,if he is giving clarifications about where did the money go for building buildings or elsewhere what makes him different then others.We are still with him but there still remains our hope hanging in the air.I doubt him.What If he belongs to the same flock.vote goes to him for sure…but can we vouch on him for a better Pakistan with all that confidence?
Keep away motions for casting your vote in next elections. Vote for honest, motivated and experienced candidates regardless of their party affiliation.
I like Imran to come in power inshallah with help of Allah and masses of Pakistan to remove all the corruption from the society of the country. We need to change the mind set of the people by educating which is cruical after you get rid of hese PPP,PML(N),(Q), ANP and JUI and MQM the opportunists of the century.
We should vote for PTI as it is the only hope for future justice of the country and we need to remove corruption, and change mind set of people by bringing new party and new vision not the same old feudals, jagirdars and videras of PPP, PML(N,Q),ANP and MQM.
A questionable 'question' war between PTI and PMNL(N) — with Eleven questions from Imran Twelve from Nawaz — will surely lead to a win for PPP with no questions asked.
Pakistan is a country where alone party can not come on a ruling seat therefore every majority election victor has to make govt with allied / other parties and this is impossible that imran khan could bring change in Pakistan i don't think so he has capacity of it as well as not possible that he will clean sweep. all solutions that he given is just like a bubbles in air practical practice is very hard . i would must say if (which is not come true) we could get a true leadership then we will get back on track with in 10 to 15 years and till then i will be reach on 50 or die but hope my next generation will see the prosperity and cheers.
Although I also dont condone the decision of bringing the "Lottas" in, but hey…not anyone of us but he (Imran Khan) is the guy who made this party, he nurtured it, got people to recognize it. And I am sure he had to make thousands of decisions (big or small) to do it, and look he is successful today, I guess we should trust him and his decision making skills. All we need to worry about is doing our part i.e. Vote for PTI on the election day, and leave the decision making to the future "Captain" of this lost ship (Pakistan).
Insha Allah…PTI will succeed and we will say with pride to our young ones that we were part of this revolution.
Well written Saad, totally understand what you said but we all have to be realistic as well. You are talking about an ideal world where Imran can get 500 odd doctors, lawyers, enginners, businessmen etc to stand election and rule the country. Imran has been criticising those people but not ALL of them are bad, the KEY point is that the corrupt have been able to steal and rule due to the support from their leadersip who are themselves totally corrupt and manipulators. Do you honestly believe Imran will let these people run the show?
Secondly, let's even assume that people Imran is taking are all bad which still makes 30% of the party whereas other parties have almost 70% of corrupt people including leadership so it's already a no brainer?
I beg to disagree with you Saad. Youth of Pakistan including my two sons are all geared up to bring a change in the country. I have never seen such enthusiasm and interest in the politics by Pakistan youth as I see today. Thanks to Imran Khan for bringing hope to the youth of Pakistan. Enough is enough we will not let the current rulers to come in power again.
Inclusion of SMQ and JH was vital in order to be successful in the forthcoming election. Both have very valuable experience of running an election campaign. Imran Khan cannot go at all constituencies of the country for his election campaign. We need these people to address people in the rural areas. Inshallah the moment neutral government takes over you will see the signs of tsunami in every town and city of the country.
Have confidence in Imran Khan leadership.Inshallah youth of this country will bring a change.There is no reason to be pessimistic about PTI.Party already has more than 50 lac members,more that the total vote cast for PML N in the last election.It would be a fool who would vote for current rulers looking at their performance during the past 5 years.Involvement of seasoned politicians like Javed Hashmi and Shah Mehmood Qureshi was vital because they have enormous experience of contesting election and running election campaign.I mran alone can not go to all constituency during the election campaign.Let the neutral caretaker comes and you will see signs of Tsumani all over the country inshallah.
And for heavens sake please don't use the terror word 'TSUNAMI' — which means chaos, death, destruction — it doesn't mean "change" — Pakistan does need CHANGE — but not the kind of 'change' that brings devastation, death, destitution, disease, homelessness for millions due to floods and earthquakes — Pakistan already has enough of both — it does not need a 'tsunami'.