Winning with humility and losing with grace

Good leadership and greatness demand and more so from politicians that they display modesty in triumph, and dignity and poise in defeat. A determined leader having faced defeat in elections resolves to make effort to win next time. He assesses his weaknesses and strengths of his own and that of his team compares it with his opponents or by the standards he wants to achieve. He is supposed to do this planning and mental exercise on his own as well as collectively at the party or group level. The superior the level of leadership the greater the effort to overcome his or her weaknesses. However, it would be a negation of good leadership and rational behaviour that a team captain or a political leader would defy these basic norms of self and group assessment and stray in wild conspiracy theories. For this could lead to escapism which is neither beneficial for the individual, the party or the country he or she represents. Unfortunately, most of us fall victim to this line of assessment while reflecting on our individual or collective failures. This trend is notable while judging major setbacks or lack of progress in pursuing a national agenda. Of course, this is not to underestimate or rule out external factors and internal weaknesses that are constantly at play in achieving one’s personal or national goals. When crucial national interests of a country do not converge with the super or major powers and its leaders are defiant in dealings at the policy level, the “defaulter” country is likely to be punished by imposing economic sanctions, suspending assistance and pushing it toward isolation so that it falls in line. But this was not the case in the context of the US internal memo as Imran Khan has been stating.

Irrespective of what one’s position is on this or other controversial issues it is the function of the top political leadership to remain oriented in taking the country toward political stability and economic well-being. Imran Khan has to decide whether he wants to play the role of a forceful and balanced opposition leader operating mostly through the parliament or a potent spoiler for the government. Realising that he continues to enjoy solid support of the younger generation and a large cross-section of society he may be tempted to lean on the side of keeping the government off balance rather than prove to be a conventional opposition leader. There is a huge downside to it if he went for the latter option. The reason is obvious. Economy is facing one of its worst crises.

With value of rupee reaching record low and balance of payments position extremely tight, there are few options to retrieve the situation. As Dr Ishrat Hussain recently reminded us that “rising poverty and unemployment, heavy external and domestic indebtedness, high fiscal deficit and low investment” could have serious consequences for the stability of the country. There is no other choice but to adopt the IMF route to inspire international credibility and confidence. The initial signals coming from IMF are they would be willing to engage with the new government. If relations with the Biden administration improve it is possible to strike a better deal with IMF and that should arrest Pakistan’s downward economic trend. The Chinese too have greater confidence in Sharif’s handling of the economy and CPEC and are likely to welcome the change though discreetly.

Eyes are now focused on how Shehbaz Sharif would deal with the angry and rebellious opposition and how it would affect the government’s performance. His past record as Chief Minister Punjab gives hope that he would focus on governance and make serious efforts at retrieving the distressed national economy provided he gets breathing space and is not distracted or overwhelmed by the obstruction of the opposition. Clearly, he is one of the few political leaders who are issue oriented, besides being good communicator and having plenty of external exposure while in government and in private capacity. Fortunately, Shehbaz Sharif has a good rapport with the army leadership as his past reminds us and would be in a better position to steer a smooth transition of command of the army when the Chief’s term expires towards the end of this year.

PPP’s main focus would be Sindh and it is expected that Bilawal Bhutto, due to soaring inflation and increased pressure from public, would give high priority to governance. Representing a new generation of political leaders and influenced by foreign education and the struggle of its ancestors for democracy and civilian supremacy, expectations from him are high. We have to see whether these influences are reflected in his and his party’s performance. In all fairness we have to give time to assess his performance. Meanwhile the decisions he and his party are taking and their conduct would remain under close public scrutiny.

Shehbaz Sharif’s recent remarks that he would not engage in politics of revenge and that winner takes all types of policies he would desist. These statements give a ray of hope that sanity is prevailing. But equally critical is the role and conduct of the opposition. If they continue with disruptive politics on the plea that the present PML-led coalition is illegal and want national elections soonest possible then the outcome would be anarchy and the future undetermined. The PTI’s vote bank in last elections was 32% of the votes cast. From this one could infer that their opposition both inside and on the streets could be significant. So, Pakistan is facing an extremely difficult and conflict-ridden transition of power.

The external situation is no less problematic. Relations with India are practically frozen and PM Modi is in no mood to engage with Pakistan or relax its belligerence against the Kashmiris. Afghanistan’s government has yet to be recognised even by its immediate neighbours and the outflow of refugees continues as starvation and severe economic squeeze has brought untold misery on the people.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 13^th, 2022.

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