The Illusion of change

17 million people voted for PTI did so believing that their vote would shake the corrupt status quo


Aly Zaman August 04, 2018
The writer is Assistant Professor of Politics and International Relations at the Lahore School of Economics. He can be contacted at alyzaman@gmail.com

One of Pakistan’s abiding misfortunes is that the more things change in the Land of the Pure, the more they remain the same. Of the almost 17 million people who voted for Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in the recently concluded election, there would be many— if not most—who did so believing that their vote would shake the foundations of a hackneyed and corrupt status quo that had for long inhibited Pakistan from achieving its true potential.

After all, that is what they had heard ad nauseam from their leader over the last two decades, but particularly so since the elections of 2013, when the PTI transformed itself from a one-seat party into a viable electoral alternative to more entrenched rivals like the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). Even though the oft proclaimed tsunami never materialised, the PTI polled the second highest number of votes nationwide and formed its government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

Although these were no mean achievements, they could not compensate for the denial of the ultimate prize, the premiership of the country, whose attainment Imran had hyped up as a mere formality. It was a bitter pill that proved particularly hard to swallow for the PTI leader and his followers, leading to five years of unrelenting and at times actively hostile opposition to the previous PML-N government, whose legitimacy they denied by virtue of their unsubstantiated claim that it was the beneficiary of systematic electoral rigging and whose leadership they excoriated for being corrupt, incompetent and even traitorous for allegedly prioritising India’s interests over those of Pakistan. The PTI waged its 2018 election campaign much as it had fought the one in 2013, vowing to end corruption, ensure justice for all, recover the nation’s stolen wealth, end the duopoly of the PML-N and the PPP and, in a nutshell, ensure that it would no longer be business as usual in Pakistan.

Five years down the road from its bitter defeat in the previous election, Imran Khan’s anti-status quo narrative appears to have finally paid dividends, albeit with significant assistance from unelected state institutions. The prime ministerial sherwani, put on hold in 2013, is ready to be donned. By official estimates, the PTI is the most popular party in Pakistan and is poised to form the government at the centre and in two provinces.

PTI stalwarts such as the currently ubiquitous Fawad Chaudhry bring us glad tidings of winds of change sweeping over the land, bringing relief to its harried citizenry who have suffered for decades at the hands of a rapacious ruling elite. Chaudhry is a rather unlikely harbinger of a new dawn; after all, he was once a spokesperson for General Pervez Musharraf and secretary general of his apology of a party, the optimistically titled All-Pakistan Muslim League, which can actually be seen hardly anywhere in Pakistan. He then joined the PPP before finally offering his considerable services to the PTI in 2016. By that time, Imran Khan’s hunt for electables who could win him the next election, especially those hailing from Punjab, was well underway, meaning that Chaudhary and other turncoats of his ilk were accepted with open arms.

During the election campaign, Imran Khan frankly admitted that elections could not be won without enlisting those with money, connections and the power to dispense or withhold patronage; in other words, without the very same elements whose pervasive political dominance he had pledged to put an end to when he first entered politics. It was a stunning revocation of a core principle as well as a repudiation of one of the principal reasons behind Imran Khan’s popular appeal, namely, that he was different from his political rivals and that he would never stoop low like them to attain power. Khan has demonstrated that he is fully prepared to plumb the very depths of political expediency in his pursuit of power. Having once publicly and rightly lambasted candidates who contested elections as independents for doing so only so that, upon winning, they could sell their loyalties to the highest bidder, Imran is now busy recruiting as many independents into his party as possible so that PTI governments at the centre and in Punjab can be formed. The man entrusted with the onerous responsibility of bringing independents into the party fold is the redoubtable Jahangir Khan Tareen, another relic of the Musharraf era and agent of the status quo whose lifetime disqualification from political office for possession of undeclared assets and dishonesty has not diminished his involvement in party affairs.

Imran Khan’s volte face on his previous commitments to transform the status quo is not confined to the recruitment/purchase of electables alone; it can already be seen in his choice of political allies. The moribund PML-Q has been brought back to life thanks to Imran Khan’s decision to form an alliance with the Chaudhrys of Gujrat, whose handful of seats in the National Assembly and in Punjab have become virtually indispensable for the PTI in its objective of forming governments at the centre and in the country’s most populous and most affluent province.

When it comes to status quo politicians, they don’t come more conventional than Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, both of whom were previously subjects of Imran Khan’s ire for their loan write-offs and perceived corruption. Khan famously dubbed Pervaiz Elahi Punjab’s biggest daku (robber) during his term as Punjab’s chief minister from 2002 to 2008. In Naya Pakistan, however, the daku has become completely kosher; he is being tipped as the next Speaker of the Punjab assembly and his party is to receive ministries at both the centre and in the province.

In the lead-up to the election and since, the PTI has done precious little to live up to its popular image as an agent of change. On the contrary, it has given every indication that it will resort to the same Machiavellian dark arts practised by many of its predecessors. Admittedly, these are very early days in the transition and it is to be hoped—for the sake of this country—that the PTI will deliver on its promises, as outlined by the chairman in his largely well-received speech after the election. However, going by the hypocrisy and political expediency displayed by the PTI since the election, there does not appear to be much ground for optimism in that regard.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 4th, 2018.

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

COMMENTS (2)

PakPukudenguta | 5 years ago | Reply It is Tweedledee and Tweedledum transformation, adulterated wine in a new attractive bottle. The honeymoon will not last long. I see the directionless journey burdened with lack of administrative experience, illogical and greedy ambitions. I predict a war and a massive one brought down by this "Naya Pakistan's Naya Leader".
Ranjha | 5 years ago | Reply Awww....more blatheribg of another Gunja pujari. Lumd seems to be full of bitter defeated alcollectuals! How much did you stash away in Dubai?
Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ