Suspicions persist as Imran becomes larger-than-life

Pundits, rivals debate whether the PTI chairman has been vetted by the establishment.

ISLAMABAD:

As Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) continues to swell both in size and stature, so do the suspicions around the party’s ‘genuineness’ persist with political rivals and critics wary of the establishment’s role behind Imran Khan’s unstoppable rise.

“PTI is getting closer to the establishment with every passing day,” alleged Mushahidullah Khan, Pakistan Muslim League-N’s (PML-N) information secretary.

“Suspicions about its genuineness have gained momentum with the induction of over thirty-five seasoned politicians in PTI.” Many of the recruited politicians worked with former president Pervez Musharraf, he added, hinting that it was telling of the party’s close ties with the security establishment.

Apart from Imran’s critics, some political analysts believe that each and every party to enter the political sphere has remained under the hood of the establishment in the past. PML-N MNA Khawaja Asif even once admitted in a television talk show that his party was a tool in the hands of the establishment in the late 80s and early 90s.

“Currently it is hard to find evidence whether parts of the establishment are proactively supporting PTI or not,” said political writer and human rights campaigner Harris Khalique. But the patterns in which Imran Khan is being propped up are comparable, if not entirely similar, to instances in the past when parties ranging from the Convention Muslim League in 1962 to the PML-Q in 2002, he added.

“The establishment, supported by the urban-affluent-middleclass sentiment, wants the incumbent government out at any cost and Imran wants to be in power at the earliest.”

Some pundits, like Khalique, believe that that Imran, who is now 59, is too ambitious to wait for another two electoral cycles.

“This is exactly the reason Imran is embracing the Qureshis, Kasuris, the Legharis, the Mehrs and the Tammans,” said Haris Khalique.

Muddassir Rizvi of the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) observed, “Perception is more important than reality in politics.”

Although Fafen has yet to gauge the political atmosphere in the country, the question over whether Imran was being propped up by the establishment still remains inclusive, Rizvi said.

PTI Information Secretary Shafqat Mehmood, however, rejected the allegations by Imran’s critics, terming them a futile effort to decrease his rising popularity. In the past, he said, “Every political party remained a part of the establishment.”

Ishaq Khan Khakwani, a former federal minister in Shaukat Aziz’s cabinet, who has also recently joined PTI, said the establishment was not capable of amassing people for Imran’s rallies.

“PTI enjoys public support rather than the support of the establishment,” conceding that even though that was the case, the establishment has always been vital in creating a government and sometimes also in achieving its desired results in elections.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 26^th, 2011.