The way forward for the PTI
Its imperative that PTI plays constructive role in law-making process once it resumes attending parliamentary sessions
PTI chief Imran Khan and party leadership stands atop a stage in front of the Parliament House during their rally in Islamabad on Saturday. PHOTO: INP
Now that the party has been welcomed back into parliament after the MQM and the JUI-F withdrew their un-seating motions, it is now time for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to start making its due contribution to the ongoing democratic process in the country, show the respect that parliament deserves and uphold the supremacy of the Constitution.
This is especially important as the judicial commission (JC), set up to probe the PTI’s charges of systematic rigging of the 2013 general polls, had reached the conclusion that such rigging had not taken place, even if the electoral process had been a flawed one. One, however, felt that the ruling party did violate the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between its representatives and those of the PTI on how each one would respond to the ruling of the JC. In case it was in favour of the PTI, the government would resign and fresh elections would be called. In case it was the other way round, then the PTI’s charges would stand withdrawn and its MNAs would go back to the National Assembly straightaway.
There was no mention of any ‘victory’ speech which the prime minister made after the JC’s verdict was sent to the government. Also, there was nothing in the MoU that bound the loser to tender an apology which a manipulated media insisted on demanding. One would like our political parties to bury the past and move on to a future that is free of pointless bickering and avoidable confrontations. Still, it would be instructive for the PTI to keep travelling back to the past and see where it went wrong and what it did that it should not have done. And where it was not far off the mark.
One had expected greater things from a party that had mobilised the educated youth of the country across the board; most of them had never seen a polling booth in their lifetime — a generation that both the PML-N and the PPP had failed to lure out of their apolitical mindset. Led by a man whose successes in sports and philanthropy were acclaimed the world over, the milling crowds of PTI supporters had almost taken over the country on the beat of DJ Butt’s sound system. The most articulate of our political leaders, credible to a fault and whose integrity — especially financial integrity — was above board, Imran Khan, was drawing ever bigger crowds in most cities and the countryside since the end of 2011. His articulation of the problems facing Pakistan was hitting the right chord in these youthful crowds and his cures for getting rid of these socioeconomic and political ailments were being lapped up as the panacea itself.
However, suddenly something seemed to have snapped inside the PTI. The entire premise of the rigging allegations seemed to have been built on anecdotal tales, although this is not to say that the 2013 elections did not have some glaring flaws. Some people, known to have been masters in hatching political conspiracies, were seen whispering publicly in Imran Khan’s ears standing on his side on the container. There were also his threats to embark on civil disobedience and his party’s workers’ defiance in the face of the law of the land. Perhaps, one of the biggest mistakes of the PTI was handing over the resignations of its parliamentarians to the speaker of the National Assembly. And an even more of a serious mistake was to call the elected House a fake assembly.
However, all is not lost. If there is any leader in the country who has in him the ability to retrieve the political pedestal that he had lost, perhaps misled by politically overambitious people who surrounded him on the container, it is Imran Khan. A person of his calibre and popularity, and the political party that he has built can thrive only in parliament, not out of it. It is, therefore, imperative that the PTI plays a constructive role in the law-making process once it resumes attending parliamentary sessions from August 10. This is what its supporters now expect of it.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 9th, 2015.
This is especially important as the judicial commission (JC), set up to probe the PTI’s charges of systematic rigging of the 2013 general polls, had reached the conclusion that such rigging had not taken place, even if the electoral process had been a flawed one. One, however, felt that the ruling party did violate the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between its representatives and those of the PTI on how each one would respond to the ruling of the JC. In case it was in favour of the PTI, the government would resign and fresh elections would be called. In case it was the other way round, then the PTI’s charges would stand withdrawn and its MNAs would go back to the National Assembly straightaway.
There was no mention of any ‘victory’ speech which the prime minister made after the JC’s verdict was sent to the government. Also, there was nothing in the MoU that bound the loser to tender an apology which a manipulated media insisted on demanding. One would like our political parties to bury the past and move on to a future that is free of pointless bickering and avoidable confrontations. Still, it would be instructive for the PTI to keep travelling back to the past and see where it went wrong and what it did that it should not have done. And where it was not far off the mark.
One had expected greater things from a party that had mobilised the educated youth of the country across the board; most of them had never seen a polling booth in their lifetime — a generation that both the PML-N and the PPP had failed to lure out of their apolitical mindset. Led by a man whose successes in sports and philanthropy were acclaimed the world over, the milling crowds of PTI supporters had almost taken over the country on the beat of DJ Butt’s sound system. The most articulate of our political leaders, credible to a fault and whose integrity — especially financial integrity — was above board, Imran Khan, was drawing ever bigger crowds in most cities and the countryside since the end of 2011. His articulation of the problems facing Pakistan was hitting the right chord in these youthful crowds and his cures for getting rid of these socioeconomic and political ailments were being lapped up as the panacea itself.
However, suddenly something seemed to have snapped inside the PTI. The entire premise of the rigging allegations seemed to have been built on anecdotal tales, although this is not to say that the 2013 elections did not have some glaring flaws. Some people, known to have been masters in hatching political conspiracies, were seen whispering publicly in Imran Khan’s ears standing on his side on the container. There were also his threats to embark on civil disobedience and his party’s workers’ defiance in the face of the law of the land. Perhaps, one of the biggest mistakes of the PTI was handing over the resignations of its parliamentarians to the speaker of the National Assembly. And an even more of a serious mistake was to call the elected House a fake assembly.
However, all is not lost. If there is any leader in the country who has in him the ability to retrieve the political pedestal that he had lost, perhaps misled by politically overambitious people who surrounded him on the container, it is Imran Khan. A person of his calibre and popularity, and the political party that he has built can thrive only in parliament, not out of it. It is, therefore, imperative that the PTI plays a constructive role in the law-making process once it resumes attending parliamentary sessions from August 10. This is what its supporters now expect of it.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 9th, 2015.