The aversion of a major crisis

Ever since Imran Khan emerged from the smog of Lahore and decided to start a political party his adventure in politics has been something of a Druidic mystery. He came across as a man who was going to cleanse the country of the massive corruption that was taking place, particularly at the higher echelons of the establishment. Riding on the crest of the wave of the Panama leaks he felt he had finally gotten Nawaz Sharif into a cul-de-sac from which there was no escape and it was time to spring the taut surprise of Methodist Texans.

But after all the hype on the idiot box and in the papers, after all the rhetoric and ranting that it won’t be long before our local caballero Zorro ousted the wicked family that was stashing away undeclared wealth abroad, the leader of the crusade somewhat abruptly decided to call the whole thing off. That was when the cartoons started to surface on Facebook some of which were risibly nasty. One puzzled citizen living in Jhelum, obviously a disillusioned PTI supporter, wanted to know in an email why the leader of the insurrection had suddenly decided to play Hamlet — the prince who couldn’t make up his mind. It was a rhetorical question which didn’t need an answer. I wanted to tell him that Imran Khan said that he called off the attack to avoid bloodshed.

Let’s just leave it at that. Had I answered the query the fellow would have wanted to know why the PTI chief hadn’t thought of all this before making those fiery public speeches and raising the hopes of his supporters and then stoking the embers of discontentment among some members of the party who thought their chief should not only have acted like Robespierre but should also have stormed the Bastille. It is just as well that he didn’t, especially after the edict from the Supreme Court and after the police had carted off scores of his supporters. The leader of the opposition Khurshid Ahmed Shah said that Imran Khan should have gone ahead with his original plan to paralyse the capital. He said this with a detached uninvolved ennui — the languor of a person who really couldn’t care either way KA Shah should bestow on Imran Khan this year’s Kamikaze Award for initially behaving in the most inappropriate, foolhardy and undemocratic way which would have ended in a pitched battle with casualties on both sides. Besides, there is no guarantee the PTI will be the dominant winner in the 2018 election.

I am not a Nawaz Sharif supporter because I not only disagree with what he means by development, but also because members of his family quietly spirited away vast sums of money in an offshore account in Central America committing a serious transgression. The Supreme Court has taken a decision to set up a judicial enquiry into the Panama leaks and Imran Khan has said he would accept the verdict of Their Lordships — whatever it might be. Imran Khan might have tarnished his image by doing a U-Turn.

But it was basically his threat to oust a sitting prime minister by having him disqualified before the election that started the ball rolling. Nawaz Sharif also addressed huge public gatherings where he projected himself as the Great Developer in an attempt to divert attention away from the Panama crisis. In a different environment, the new star in the PPP constellation Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is trying to revive the flagging popularity of the party started by his grandfather. It is doubtful if the case currently under the consideration of the Supreme Court would have gotten that far had it not been for the PTI chief.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 6^th, 2016.

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