‘A govt coming to power through stage-managed election will be standing on thin ice’

“Any government coming to power as a result of a stage-managed election will be standing on thin ice,” said a senior political analyst while participating in the Express News talk show “Experts” on Thursday.

The show host, Dua Jamil, asked the panel who from amongst the prime ministerial hopefuls has the ability to steer the country out of the myriad of crises.

“Anyone elected by the popular will of the people will be their true representative. Only he would be able to become their saviour. Only he would be able to stabilise the country politically and pull it out of the current economic morass,” Naveed Hussain, Chief Editor of The Express Tribune, said while offering his two cents on the topic.

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“Such an elected leader would be confident that he enjoys the mandate of people. He wouldn’t have to worry that someone would pull the chair from underneath him. This is what would give him confidence to take bold decisions,” Hussain said. He added that any leader getting “elected” as a result of a state-managed election would find his “government standing on thin ice.”

Hussain cited the example of the 2018 elections which all political parties alleged at the time had been manipulated in favour of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. “The 2018 election may have been free and fair, but the exercise did not look transparent and hence had little credibility,” he said. “The government that was formed as a result apparently drew its strength not from people, but from someone else – and this why it was easily ousted from power.”

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It is a kind of déjà vu now. The same drama is being replayed. Only the characters have been switched. Hussain fears the result would not be different from the post-2018 elections. “It is as clear as day that the political chessboard has been rearranged for Nawaz Sharif to become the prime minister for a fourth time,” he added.

Ayaz Khan, Group Editor Daily Express, said that his pick for the slot of prime minister would be someone who prioritises health and education and who works for the common man. “Since none of the politicians from amongst the available lot would do that, therefore, I would not pick anyone.”

In a lighter vein, Khan said that he would have solved all the problems of the country, but unfortunately, he doesn’t want to contest the election because he doesn’t want to get arrested. He was obliquely referring to the ongoing crackdown on PTI candidates who are not allowed to even file nomination papers for the election.  

However, when the host insisted, Khan said: “I believe the next prime minister will be able to deliver, if he is from Balochistan.” When the host prodded him to name his choice, Khan said, “Let’s leave it for the BAP party to decide.”

On his part, Amir Ilyas Rana, Express News Bureau Chief in Islamabad, said that all political parties believe their leaders are the best choice for the PM office. However, he doesn’t foresee Bilawal Bhutto and Shehbaz Sharif becoming the prime minister due to the poor performance of their 16-month-long government. Rana thinks that judging on the basis of past performance, Nawaz Sharif qualifies for the coveted slot.

Faisal Husain, Express News Bureau Chief in Karachi, refused to name his choice. While giving example of Bilawal, he said that his party, the PPP, has been in power in Sindh for 15 years and reportedly spent Rs22,000 billion in the name of development. If this amount had really been spent on development, the whole world would have seen the result, he added while taking a dig at the PPP’s claim.

He disagreed with Rana that Shahbaz was to blame for the poor performance of the PDM government. “It is wrong to solely blame Shahbaz because he was following the policies dictated by his elder brother Nawaz Sharif,” Faisal said.

Mohammad Ilyas, Express News Bureau Chief in Lahore, said his pick for the PM slot would be someone who works for development. “The way caretaker chief minister of Punjab, Mohsin Naqvi, is undertaking development work in the province, I think he should be the prime minister,” he said.