It may yet be too early to tell. After rocking the political arena by holding bumper rallies in Lahore and Karachi, Imran and his merry men have suddenly dropped out from the radar. Ask a PTI-wallah and he will have a long list of justifications, but a nagging questions hovers uncomfortably in the air: “Did Imran speak too soon?”
The Lahore and Karachi jalsas heralded the arrival of a new political star who seemed unstoppable. The political traditionalists — the PPP, the PML-N and the likes — felt like they were relegated to the role of playback singers as Imran, the rockstar, belted out record-breaking political tunes. The traditionalists began to bleed members. When constituency titans like Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Javed Hashmi bolted to Imran, the traditionalists realised that they had a real serious problem at hand.
Their fortresses had been breached by the political invader.
But since then, a lull. As my friend Talat Hussain wrote in an op-ed in this paper on March 16, titled “More of the same”: “PTI has a ‘work in progress’ board hanging outside its office.” Imran is still barnstorming the country, addressing rallies in towns and smaller cities. He is still holding press conferences and the party is still issuing statements and policy papers. So it’s not as if the party HQ has been boarded up, just that from rapid acceleration, the party has gone into cruise control.
In the meantime, the traditionalists have fortified their defences. A gradual change in perception is, therefore, coming about in the political arena: Imran Khan’s bubble is bursting and the electorate is reverting to the traditional two-party hegemony of the traditionalists — warts and all.
There are two problems: First, it is clearly way too early to write the PTI’s obituary. Second, a return to power of traditionalists would not bode well for Pakistan.
Here’s why: The president has made his record-breaking fifth address to parliament. What joy. Meanwhile the prime minister is on a mission to damage the highest court of the land. While this tragedy unfolds, the process of doling out patronage among coalition partners has picked up speed. State money is being used with abandon for nakedly partisan politicking. Does nobody see a problem here? Does nobody detect the nauseating conflict of interest?
The traditionalists have sunk politics to a level where all is seen as fair. ‘Hey its politics’ they retort when confronted. What they are really saying is that the pursuit of power justifies every kind of skulduggery. If the electorate punished them for such villainy, the traditionalists would think twice.
Really? If anything, Zardari has shown the mirror to us all. He has exposed the other sanctimonious traditionalists for what they really are: no better than him when it comes to protecting their own vested interests. He has also exposed — to an extent — the typical Pakistani mentality which admires a man like him when he cheats, manipulates, exploits and bribes his way to success.
Loyalty to the party is more important than loyalty to the nation. The prime minister knows he is undercutting the foundations of the entire functioning system by defying the Supreme Court, but in this sub-culture, he will be lionised for doing so. These are the depths we have sunk to, but instead of reacting with revulsion and outrage, we express admiration for the politics of Asif Zardari and the rest.
Pakistan cannot afford this. The traditionalists are perpetuating this political culture by thriving in it. They will never change it because they are its creation. This is precisely why we need a third force which can provide an alternative to this way of doing things. We need a party or a movement which can tell the electorate that there is a different way to run Pakistan; that there can be a system which rewards merit and punishes cheating and manipulation; that there can be a culture where principles matter, where right is right and wrong is wrong and the two do not need to be mixed.
Imran may or may not fill this void. But this doesn’t mean the void doesn’t exist. We deserve better.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 21st, 2012.
COMMENTS (24)
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@Mirza The reason why you don't see any difference between PTI and other parties is that you use one prism to look into PTI and another prism to look into other parties.If you use same yard stick to measure PTI and other parties, you will see the marked differences between the two.
Agreed. The problem is every message, decays over time. I hope Imran has some cards yet to play. People in Pakistan ave never voted in favor of a party on their strategies as much as they have voted in hatred towards other candidates. Although the duo of PMLN and PPP have severe problems at hand like Mehran Bank Scandal and Memo-Gate scandal but these issues are not hurting the public directly unlike dengue, price hikes, load shedding, fake medicines etc. So whatever scandal is at hand, it is not helping PTI like unemployment and load shedding does. Whether PTI pulls some new cards or not, I anticipate that after yet another summers of power failures PTI will rise again automatically.
Excellent Article
The best sentence "If the electorate punished them for such villainy, the traditionalists would think twice." Unless people realize the power of their vote and be wise enough to elect the right person, tranditionalists and system will not change. Also rightly said that its not about PTI, its about Pakistan. I request Fahad Hussain to please positively criticize PTI because we need it so that they realize their faults. Good Job Fahad Hussain
I was in agreement with the author till the last three words. We do not deserve better, We need better
fahadhussain and talathussain are two best journalists of Pakistan. express tribue doesn't suit them . This place is for yellow journalist.
@ Falcon
Read there articles speciallt haroon rasheed last 3 articles defending kiyani pasha and khan. according to him kiyani and imram will work in future.
There is always the distinction between Imran and the so called traditionalists. And an expectation has been created, that Imran is different - things will change, and problems will be solved. No cognition is given to the fact that he has zero administrative experience
It is almost as if Pakistan is in love with Imran. Hope Nietzche's words do not come true - "Love is a state in which man sees things most decidedly as they are not "
@Dr. Akmal & @Muhammad Usman: Would you like to present any evidence for your conclusions? So anybody who disagrees with your view point is pro-establishment? If you really want to know why the traditional parties can't make a difference, please feel free to do research on their tax payment patterns, asset ownership patterns (local and abroad), asset growth rates, and political patronage patterns.
@Muhammad Usman: Fahad Hussain , Talat Hussain and Haroon Rasheed, they are patriot Pakistani and they want to see a prosperous country that why they oh not only they but whole nation want to get rid of these two parties.
Very true, 'We cannot afford more of the the same traditional stuff". Coming to the perception that PTI bubble has been busted...... So the Goebbels ( from both PPP and PMLN) are at work here. Bi elections were a typical example where Gillani's son actually got 26K votes but the "official" count was 92K "without" any allegations of rigging!!!! This is a fight between status quo and anti status quo.On onse side we have PPP,PMLN, JUI,MQM,ANP, PMLQ all united in the govt and at some level and against them the only party, the only force is PTI, Never history of Pakistan so many forces stood against one party. We are at NOW or NEVER state........The coalition of the corrupt has failed, will fail no matter how many times it comes to power and the only alternative at present is PTI,
Get rid of the feudals and the religious extremists and the problem will be ameliorated to a great extent. These particular two segments of society are both root causes of dissent and have done tremendous harm to the country. In that respect at least, MQM deserves some kudos for not bowing to the braying mullahs or the preying feudals. They might actually be a good alternative, were it not for their mafia culture.
Please do not become spoke person of Imran. Your programme is balanced most of the time but at times you appear to support the sinking ship of agencies. Supporting Imran is not change, rather he is anti change because his power base is from those circles who do not want change........I thought this should be a simple thing to understand for an intelligent person like you. Forget the college students because they do not have enough background understanding of the promoters and destroyers in this country. I do not want change, I want system to continue and change will only come through evolution. Example, India, Brazil,.....they are best economies but was there any revolution? In countries like Pakistan, change means chaos so please think carefully before writing or speaking any thing.
aglast someine say good about PTI in ET.....i m living sbroad and still worry for Pak.....could't understand why educated people in Pak are more corrupt and hypo thsn illetetate person....Fawad has written a good article...
Both PTI and the PCO SC have one thing major in common. They both endorsed and supported the acts of high treason by Gen Mush. Only after that they have become born again. The new or third force is all fine but where is the difference in PTI and other rightwing parties and their programs? The other parties are not good and let me have a chance and I would change everything in days does not make a revolutionary argument. I am not agaist any popular party but still waiting for a revolutionary or different menifesto, including new programs and where the money would come from and what would be slashed. Only a nive person would believe that we can do it all without any cuts.
well said.pti zindabad.pti will do something great for pakistan this is my heart voice
Great article. I've been following PTI for the last 2 years - The tsunami was unexpected even for Imran Khan. No doubt everyone is frustrated with the status quo but we need to give Imran some space to formulate his team. We shouldn't start a movement without a well formulated team or we will be left no where, or worse - in the hands of DPC!
A pro pti article on ET. Can't be. Whats the catch?
Thanks, PTI fans were on the verge of declaring ET a conspiracy by local and international forces of status quo
Whoaaa!! Fahd Husain. That's Excellent. I always admire your analytical skills and your use of words & vocabulary..
Excellent......
Well said. I think you are few of the authors on ET that even talks about PTI in at least optimistic terms. Otherwise, bashing PTI is in vogue, and it is considered the fastest ticket to the esteemed company of intellectuals. Coming back to the topic, I think it is good that PTI started out earlier because PTI needed to do a lot of leg work in terms of setting up campaign at the grass root level, develop policies, see a preview of the challenges they will face (if and when they come to power), and most importantly, this gave them the wiggle room to make mistakes and adapt to the electoral realities which will reduce the unexpected surprises during the final run.