Grow up Imran Khan!

Imran has to choose to lead PTI to become a credible voice in national discourse or let party fall into more ignominy

Post-May 11, 2013, Imran Khan had before him boundless opportunities. He had mobilised the youth across the country on a platform of integrity, good governance and transparency. Pakistan seemed to have been gripped by the Imran Khan mania. So where did it all go wrong?

Imran Khan stepped into mainstream politics with a legacy embedded in achievement. His success in sports and philanthropy, now reduced to a punchline in his political diatribe, was largely due to his pure intentions grounded in national pride and altruism. He started his political life with many of the same ideals, but soon fell victim to the trappings of power, false hopes, misguided ambitions and his own grandiose ego. He became the voice of oligarchs, such as Jehangir Tarin, who hijacked PTI policies to pursue their own agendas. He ostracised the voices of reason, such as those of Javed Hashmi, whose absence is now being felt immensely by some discerning PTI members.

Imran Khan started 126 days of his dharna with an untenable demand for the resignation of the prime minister, spiralling downwards to anarchist calls for civil disobedience. His caustic rhetoric and personal attacks provided some drama and amusement in the early stages of the dharna, but soon emerged to be erratic outbursts of a man clearly devoid of a plan or message. He positioned himself, not as a leader taking positive steps towards bringing sustainable change, but as a demagogue resorting to divisive political tactics, seeking counsels from Machiavellian political advisers, such as Sheikh Rasheed.

Not only the system, but also political and judicial entities that have been struggling to preserve democracy in Pakistan for decades have been disappointed due to Imran Khan’s actions. He has been hijacked by those encircling him. He fell victim to his own motives that made him drift away from his pursuits of reform and egalitarianism, which were replaced by his desire for becoming prime minister without offering any substantial policy or vision.

The prime minister, during the chaos of the dharna outside his front door, carried himself as a statesman. He remained patient despite his family members being subjected to rude public attacks. He searched for a political solution to end the chaos; he strengthened parliament and remained focused, continuing to act in the public interest. He countered Imran Khan’s inaction by working to obliterate terrorism by implementing the National Action Plan, securing economic prosperity, embarking on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and vastly improving infrastructure through the Metro bus services and networks of motorways across Pakistan.

In recent by-elections, the people have delivered their verdict by overwhelmingly voting for the PML-N in PTI constituencies. Imran Khan continues to underestimate the enduring legacy of democracy in Pakistan and the electorate that wants to live in a country free from the rhetoric and inertia that the PTI has to offer. He continues to be recalcitrant, as is evident at his press conference after the Judicial Commission report came to light, demanding an apology from the prime minister. He believes himself to be morally and principally superior to those around him. He would, at this point, be best advised to pay heed to an aphorism from Ernest Hemingway: “There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man, true nobility is being superior to your former self.” He has two options in front of him: one is to accept responsibility for his egregious failures and reinvent the PTI, leading to conciliatory political dialogue, utilising the sacred platform of parliament and his mandate in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The second is to step aside and allow the PTI to choose a leader who understands the nuances of politics. Either way, Imran Khan has to choose to lead the PTI to become a credible voice in the national discourse or let the party fall into more ignominy. He now needs to refocus his political direction and devise a strategy to deliver as per his party manifesto. He now casts a heavy shadow of misguided ambition. Even the most ardent PTI supporters have turned away in dismay at his misguided political agenda, which is now emerging as a stain on Pakistan’s political history.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 1^st,  2015.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.