The Where-the-hell-are-we tribe

There are a bunch of characters so used to being on seats of influence that they now find themselves unseated

It was only when I saw the collective mugshot of some very glum-looking men indeed that I really began to grasp the scale of what had happened in the course of the election 2018. These were the men that had been my political wallpaper for a very long time, certainly as long as I have scribbled for a living, and they had been powerful, dominated the landscape in some instances, truly held the balance of power and quite possibly influenced the scales of justice. They it was that had turned the country rightwards; they it was in some cases that had nurtured the extremist mindset that has a grip (had a grip? — the jury is out) and they are now yesterday’s men. Zia’s children, in large part, carrying on his work.

It was a vignette of the Where-the-hell-are-we tribe, a bunch of characters so used to being on seats of influence that they now find themselves unseated and looking around in some dismay and confusion. At least one of them has lived the gilded life in the parliamentary and ministerial enclave for 20 years. The look on his face of stunned incredulity was a joy to behold.

Others have occupied the parliamentary lodges for almost the same time, and they are all going to have to pack their traps and bags and shuffle off into the wings to mutter about rigging and the general unfairness of the democratic process and no, we will not go into the colour of that process. It is much to be hoped that the new dispensation is quick to send in the cleanup squad — there are some horror stories, well documented, of the state in which some accommodation has been left at the end of tenure — with new brooms and a no-nonsense attitude.

But back to the Where-the-hell-are-we tribe. We can argue the toss until the cows come home as to the validity of the election, rigging, missing forms and absent or ejected observers but at some point we bump up against reality.

The sad old men in the group retirement pic were there because they were voted out of office. Rejected. Not wanted on voyage. Enough people put a mark on a paper to ensure that their safe and secure seats of long standing were no longer so. I suspect that most of those that voted these toxic dinosaurs out had in simple terms had enough of them and there was an alternative. They had not delivered the goods, were not what was claimed to be on the boxes they came in and displayed and pursued positions that the electorate in their constituencies were at variance with. To be sure there will be those that voted for them, millions probably, but not enough millions to turn back what eventually became a strong tide (not a tsunami, oh dear me no) and they were unceremoniously shown the door.

The 2018 election did not produce a revolution in any sense of the word but it did demonstrate that in an increasingly urbanised country the old feudal affiliations lacked the social glue that held them together, and for the first time elective feudalism had another option alongside it on the ballot papers. It may also have rung the death-knell for dynastic politics, at least in Punjab where disaffection for the dominant family has produced some interesting outcomes.

The gamble in respect of the elder Sharif, his return and the subsequent public apathy in respect of his plight was a wake-up call that was brutal and unforgiving, later translated into an electoral rejection at federal and provincial levels. It is far too early to say that the game is up for the Sharifs and they still hold and wield immense power and influence — but they have taken a battering. They will probably lose the province.

Less commented upon is the fact that the Wherethehellarewe tribe comes from a wide geographic sample, and their ouster as was the ouster of their ilk in some events, was a national phenomenon. The party that gave them the boot was winning from Chitral to Korangi. Quetta (Okay...a little) — to Bahawalnagar. And the Wherethehellarewe’s? Good riddance and a not-so-fond farewell — byee!

Published in The Express Tribune, August 2^nd, 2018.

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