A flexing of muscles

There is nothing within the 11 bullet points that a sane person would disagree with but — water never gets a mention

There is never going to be agreement about the numbers attending the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) rally in Lahore on Sunday 29^th April. None of those counting is going to accept figures other than their own. The actual numbers in attendance is in truth immaterial, and what matters is that there were a lot of people — a glance at the drone footage confirms this — men and women, and that the event was well organised and as far as can be judged, peaceful. It happened in the heartland of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and is a clear indicator of the pulling power of PTI leader Imran Khan. What it is not a clear indicator of is whether the numbers on parade are indicative of votes on polling day, or merely tens of thousands out for a pleasant Sunday afternoon. On-the-spot vox pops suggest a mixture of both — so what are the takeaways?

Despite a speech of crushing and elongated tedium Imran Khan delivered something that is new — an 11-point agenda of goals that will be aimed for in the event of him and his party winning the upcoming election. It is the closest the PTI has yet come to publicly stated national policies. There is nothing within the 11 bullet points that a sane person would disagree with but there are some notable omissions — water never gets a mention. As a basis for a manifesto the nuts and bolts are there, and no party anywhere goes much beyond that pre-polling.

The 11-point agenda pushes all the right buttons, but as with the National Action Plan formulated in the wake of the APS massacre in Peshawar delivery is going to be a challenge for the PTI. Like the NAP nothing the PTI proposes is a quick fix and some items — the elimination of corruption for instance — is going to be a generational struggle. Likewise education. There is nothing wrong with wish lists so long as it is understood that is what they are — but the potential muscle on display is going to give the PML-N discomfort and that is no bad thing.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 1^st, 2018.

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