The most unrepresentative PM would be Imran Khan

The most common sentence we have heard and read about democracy is the one that says ‘by the people, for the people, of the people’. In my humble view, the most important of those words is the word “for”. The world has tested governments by the people when they are elected by the people but they are most of the time, if not always, not doing things for the people. We have seen governments that were not necessarily elected by the people but it still did some things for the people.

Governments in the United States are elected by the people or rather their delegates, but that’s another debate, and somehow those governments after getting elected turn around and do the things the people never elected them for. President Bush, the first one, said, “read my lips, no new taxes” during his campaign and once elected, one of the first things he did was to impose new taxes. Obama was elected chiefly because he was the senator who had opposed the Iraq war when Bush was preparing to invade that country. He promised change to a nation that had become tired of fighting endless wars on foreign lands. After being elected, he increased the US troops presence in Afghanistan and started mini wars in various Middle Eastern countries. The drone war became his legacy. He even killed his own citizens on purpose. Governments may or may not be elected by the people but they don’t always execute their office for the people.

The man in prison in Pakistan right now is the most revered leader in the history of Pakistan. His thinking revolves around his people. This man, if he ever became the prime minister again, would not only be elected by the people but would also do everything in that office for the people. Sitting inside prison, he does have a choice to quit and be with his children. But he chooses to fight for his people. And that trait exactly makes him the most unrepresentative man in the country. Because let us honestly answer this question. Who among you would do this? Who is it in Pakistan that you know would give up on a life of luxury and comfort and choose to live in a death-cell like room, not for the sake of some reward for himself, not as a punishment for doing something wrong, not for the sake of his children and wealth, but rather for the poor people of this nation? In the face of threats of prison time and assassination attempts, we would not choose to get busy doing something for others.

I do not know any leader in the world who during the Covid pandemic chose not to shut down the country because he or she was worried about the people on the bottom of the economic ladder. Bilawal, Maryam and the rest advocated for Pakistan to follow the western model of shutting down the country but this man expressed his worries for the people who fed their families by doing very hard labour everyday.

Almost every Pakistani would choose their own benefit versus the benefit of the many. This is just how we are wired. Imran Khan and the rest of us are not cut from the same cloth. It may anger many people but it is Bilawal and Maryam who truly reflect this nation’s mindset, morals and a dedication to pursuing selfish interests. The people want Imran Khan to be in charge because he is not like them. He is not a reflection of who we are. The people do not want Nawaz and Zardari because the people know that those two men are just like them. Given the opportunity, they’d stop at nothing to benefit themselves only. Everybody has a price. For some, it’s money. For others, it’s a threat to be away from their families. Some can’t live in harsh conditions of prison. There is no price for a man who is priceless in every sense of the word.