Politics of opportunism defeated

By bagging 15 out of 20 seats in the recent bye-election, PTI stunned everyone thereby proving many political pundits wrong in their assessment. This has also generated an important debate regarding the cause of PML-N’s defeat on its home turf. However, before entering into this debate, it is pertinent to bring certain facts to the front.

To begin with, the bye-elections took place due to the de-seating of 20 MPAs on account of floor crossing. Amongst those 20 MPAs, 10 had been elected independently in the 2018 elections but they then later joined PTI. After having done so, these MPAs enjoyed all the perks and privileges available to PTI. However, when the time of the vote of no confidence came, these MPAs without any remorse crossed floors over to PML-N in the Punjab Assembly. As a result, the Election Commission of Pakistan de-seated 25 dissident members of the Punjab Assembly in a defection case under Article 63A in light of the judgment of Supreme Court of Pakistan, setting a new precedent.

PML-N then awarded tickets to most of the same turn coats. The recent bye-elections were a test to whether or not the public accepts such politics of opportunism. In such a situation and outcome, the bagging of most of the seats gave an edge to PTI who can now proudly claim it to be a symbolic win for them.

This landside win against all odds is surely a reflection of the defeat of the politics of opportunism, sending out a clear message to political parties not to use crutches and avoid political maneuvering through the drawing of opportunists. Whenever fair and free election have been held in the country people have always voted against traditional politics of the big wigs. In 1970, the people of Pakistan had demonstrated their collective wisdom against the architecture of political power by voting in favor of popular parties like Awami League and Pakistan People’s Party. But their refusal to accept the popular mandate resulted in disaster in the form of the separation of East Pakistan.

PTI, instead of biting the dust as most thought it would, threw down the gauntlet, challenging the coalition parties standing against him. In his usual charismatic manner, being in sync with his followers, Imran Khan re-iterated that he would bowl out this coalition in just one ball, which he seems to have done.

In this new turn of events, PTI, ever since vote of no confidence, has successfully built a narrative of foreign conspiracy and regime change due to external intervention in Pakistan’s politics. The party’s Chairman convincingly argued that since he did not succumb to pressure, he was ousted by the US through the present regime. Using the metaphor of cherry blossom, the current Prime Minister remains under his scathing criticism. Added to this narrative were allegations of loot and plunder by the leaders of PML-N. In contrast to this, and that too not long ago, when PML-N carried the narrative spearheaded by Nawaz Sharif of ‘Vote ko izzat do’, believing in people’s power and refusing to ride on the shoulders of hidden forces, they garnered much public support by winning almost all bye-elections in Punjab. But, the moment they deviated from their popular narrative by adopting opportunistic politics to grab power amid price hike and high inflation, their popularity as a party of principle started waning. Furthermore, taking inference from the current scenario, one could also argue that people have ignored the style of governance and have preferred to vote on national issues, narratives, defiance, and people’s power.

In this context, it is not out of place to mention that politics is the art of perception management. Politicians often employ all techniques to market their brand by repeating certain phrases or sentences multiple times till the listeners believe them as a matter of truth. With full force, PTI has been able to instill an impression that PML-N bowed down to hidden forces by accepting all conditions, further denting the league’s image. On the other hand, Imran Khan to a large extent had been able to develop the perception of a saviour of the nation while struggling to preserve his sovereignty.

The lessons learnt from the people’s verdict are that political parties should come out of drawing room politics of opportunism, raise real issues, and draw strength from the masses. There should not be a dependence on crutches to walk them to power.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 20^th, 2022.

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