Much is being speculated about Imran Khan’s PTI being a potential ‘spoiler’ in the next general elections. The premise is that the PTI will eat into the vote bank of the right-of-centre parties, providing a default-advantage to the PPP and helping it emerge with a majority, even a two-thirds majority. Whatever merit this line of argument may otherwise have, it fails to understand the basic divide along which the votes will be decided during any election: it will pit Imran Khan against a union of all other parties put together.
Pakistan’s traditional political elite – currently represented by the PPP, the PML-N, the PML-Q, other ‘Muslim Leagues’, the MQM, the ANP, the JUI and the likes – have ruled this country in one garb or the other since its independence. At times they have come as the hand-maidens of the military dictators; and at other times they have brandished the weapon of fake democracy. Outfits like the PML-N and the PML-Q wear the former hat while the latter format fits the PPP quite appropriately - a party that enacted a deal with a sitting dictator to facilitate its way into power. The rest of the parties are small and regional to religious aberrations which have imposed their obscurantist and fascist views on a hapless electorate gravely stretched because of economic oppression and fear. These parties, individually and collectively, constitute one side of the divide.
On the other side is Imran Khan - all by himself. He is alone because he does not believe in the practices of the traditional corrupt political elite and is unwilling to compromise any of his principles and beliefs. He is in the field avowedly to bring about a change - a change in the very manner people look upon their leaders and what to expect of them. He has entered the field of politics not because he wanted to fill his coffers and buy properties offshore. Instead, he has already given so much to the people that they cherish profoundly: the pride of winning the only World Cup to-date, the cancer hospital that treats more than 80% of its patients absolutely free and the Namal Education City that is already revolutionising the lives of the inhabitants of some of the most backward areas of the country. Imran is here to create genuine hope for the poorest segments of the society who have languished on the periphery for decades fighting desperately to stay alive. Millions have perished in this fight for morsels grandiosely spared by the bloated ruling elite. An unequal relationship has always existed between the rulers and the ruled in this country. Since it served the interests of the entire traditional political elite, they joined hands to perpetuate it, taking their turns for personal aggrandisement and profit. Imran spells danger for this evil union.
The choice for the people is clear. It is not going to be between various political parties arrayed against one another. It is going to be between all of them together with their appendixes and Imran’s PTI. It will be between the prospect of continued exploitation of the poor by the traditional elite and their liberation and empowerment by the PTI. The choice will be between attempts to continue denuding the poor of their right to education, health care, jobs and progress and an organised and extensive initiative to provide all this as a first priority.
The job is Herculean. The path to salvation is long and arduous, pockmarked with Machiavellian intrigues. The entire state apparatus is aligned against the fast-growing prospect of PTI turning the tables on the plans to defeat it through bogus electoral votes and the pre- and election-day rigging that was so extensively witnessed in Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir.
Imran is bringing no ordinary change. He is riding the crest of a revolution that is being heralded by the young and the daring. They are seeking no less than a new dawn for Pakistan. But Imran and his party face a mammoth challenge. It overarches the need to transform the widely spread raw support into solid votes on the day of the elections. That is what he needs to start focusing on. It requires solid, hard-core strategising that would encompass the unfurling of a fast-paced development programme, transparent selection of candidates whose names are not tarnished, an efficient and functional party machinery geared to providing backup support and a leadership that remains charged to the end.
It also poses a challenge to the people of Pakistan. Now that they have a clear choice - a choice between a corrupt and failed old order and the beginning of a new and potentially inspiring phase - would they be able to exercise their right to vote in an independent and judicious manner, free from the traditional caste and custom pressures? Therein is the key to the prospect of the promised change.
Imran has been an idealist. He has been a dreamer. His power springs from his deep-set ideals. He performed when the pundits had spelled doom. He has given so much to this nation that it savours dearly. This time around, his dream is an independent, sovereign, progressive, egalitarian, enlightened and welfare-oriented Pakistan. A pervasive feeling is gradually taking shape that, with the passage of time, and as Pakistan nears the next elections, the ill-conceived stamp of a ‘spoiler’ will be replaced with that of a saviour.
The writer is a political analyst and an adviser to the PTI. E-Mail: [email protected][URL="http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenews.com.pk%2FTodaysPrintDetail.aspx%3FID%3D62912%26Cat%3D9&h=gAQDODle_AQAYlMxJFTRUizCkfi4hYWgWGRwcpAjCGVg9Aw"]
http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=62912&Cat=9[/URL]
Pakistan’s traditional political elite – currently represented by the PPP, the PML-N, the PML-Q, other ‘Muslim Leagues’, the MQM, the ANP, the JUI and the likes – have ruled this country in one garb or the other since its independence. At times they have come as the hand-maidens of the military dictators; and at other times they have brandished the weapon of fake democracy. Outfits like the PML-N and the PML-Q wear the former hat while the latter format fits the PPP quite appropriately - a party that enacted a deal with a sitting dictator to facilitate its way into power. The rest of the parties are small and regional to religious aberrations which have imposed their obscurantist and fascist views on a hapless electorate gravely stretched because of economic oppression and fear. These parties, individually and collectively, constitute one side of the divide.
On the other side is Imran Khan - all by himself. He is alone because he does not believe in the practices of the traditional corrupt political elite and is unwilling to compromise any of his principles and beliefs. He is in the field avowedly to bring about a change - a change in the very manner people look upon their leaders and what to expect of them. He has entered the field of politics not because he wanted to fill his coffers and buy properties offshore. Instead, he has already given so much to the people that they cherish profoundly: the pride of winning the only World Cup to-date, the cancer hospital that treats more than 80% of its patients absolutely free and the Namal Education City that is already revolutionising the lives of the inhabitants of some of the most backward areas of the country. Imran is here to create genuine hope for the poorest segments of the society who have languished on the periphery for decades fighting desperately to stay alive. Millions have perished in this fight for morsels grandiosely spared by the bloated ruling elite. An unequal relationship has always existed between the rulers and the ruled in this country. Since it served the interests of the entire traditional political elite, they joined hands to perpetuate it, taking their turns for personal aggrandisement and profit. Imran spells danger for this evil union.
The choice for the people is clear. It is not going to be between various political parties arrayed against one another. It is going to be between all of them together with their appendixes and Imran’s PTI. It will be between the prospect of continued exploitation of the poor by the traditional elite and their liberation and empowerment by the PTI. The choice will be between attempts to continue denuding the poor of their right to education, health care, jobs and progress and an organised and extensive initiative to provide all this as a first priority.
The job is Herculean. The path to salvation is long and arduous, pockmarked with Machiavellian intrigues. The entire state apparatus is aligned against the fast-growing prospect of PTI turning the tables on the plans to defeat it through bogus electoral votes and the pre- and election-day rigging that was so extensively witnessed in Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir.
Imran is bringing no ordinary change. He is riding the crest of a revolution that is being heralded by the young and the daring. They are seeking no less than a new dawn for Pakistan. But Imran and his party face a mammoth challenge. It overarches the need to transform the widely spread raw support into solid votes on the day of the elections. That is what he needs to start focusing on. It requires solid, hard-core strategising that would encompass the unfurling of a fast-paced development programme, transparent selection of candidates whose names are not tarnished, an efficient and functional party machinery geared to providing backup support and a leadership that remains charged to the end.
It also poses a challenge to the people of Pakistan. Now that they have a clear choice - a choice between a corrupt and failed old order and the beginning of a new and potentially inspiring phase - would they be able to exercise their right to vote in an independent and judicious manner, free from the traditional caste and custom pressures? Therein is the key to the prospect of the promised change.
Imran has been an idealist. He has been a dreamer. His power springs from his deep-set ideals. He performed when the pundits had spelled doom. He has given so much to this nation that it savours dearly. This time around, his dream is an independent, sovereign, progressive, egalitarian, enlightened and welfare-oriented Pakistan. A pervasive feeling is gradually taking shape that, with the passage of time, and as Pakistan nears the next elections, the ill-conceived stamp of a ‘spoiler’ will be replaced with that of a saviour.
The writer is a political analyst and an adviser to the PTI. E-Mail: [email protected][URL="http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenews.com.pk%2FTodaysPrintDetail.aspx%3FID%3D62912%26Cat%3D9&h=gAQDODle_AQAYlMxJFTRUizCkfi4hYWgWGRwcpAjCGVg9Aw"]
http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=62912&Cat=9[/URL]
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