( I wrote this article for Daily Times in 2011, your comments are invited as to how much true or otherwise are the observations today made on PTI/ Imran Khan) The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in focus —Shahab Usto An avid hunter, Imran Khan’s predatory instinct is sharp. He is wary of the simmering sentiments against the governments, both at the Centre and in Punjab. Therefore, he is a ubiquitous communicator, hogging all the media, social and political outlets Imran Khan, the chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), is seen by many as an alternative leader to the much tried PPP and PML-N leaderships, though nothing substantial has come up yet to give a hint of such a possibility in the near future, given the narrow base of his party and the poor performance in the past elections. Yet, why does he continue to be bandied about as the future prime minister, the ‘cleanser’ of our dirty political stables, and even a ‘messiah’? There are sound and phoney reasons behind this fond hope. On the sound side, undoubtedly Imran Khan is distinct in many respects: successful, untainted, untested, charismatic and altruistic. Moreover, his politics is innovative, a kind of ‘brand politics’, marked by normative values and entrepreneurial skills, and also methodologically sequenced. He started as a missionary, intent on cleaning the political system, instituting justice, removing privileges and freeing the country of foreign strings. Then, he turned to de-constructing the mythic idols of his main rivals, Zardari and the Sharifs, identifying them with all the ills and malaise that afflict the state and society. And only then he projected himself as ‘the’ leader who can deliver the goods. Now, having attained a certain degree of political faith among some sections of society and state operatives, he has turned himself more into the mould of an aggressive corporate CEO, averse to waiting for this ‘sham’ democracy to complete its term, and itching for a ‘hostile takeover’. But the question is, how? The PTI has nothing else but the high doses of homilies on ethics and good governance to offer to the people who are regularly treated and fobbed off with a mix of sops, sentimentality and chicanery by the incumbent political parties. Bereft of power, the PTI has no sops to offer; its leader lacks the tragic appeal, having been a glamorous socialite; and its tall ethical claims leave it little space for chicanery. Therefore, the PTI is condemned to rely only on the highly sanitised image of its leader, Imran Khan, projecting his three abiding ‘assets’: a successful cricketing career, altruistic services, and a ‘Mr Clean’ repute. And the PTI is using these assets to the maximum to make up for its relative smallness vis-à-vis the PPP and PML-N, acting on the belief that belittling its political rivals on credible moral grounds would automatically enhance its weight and size in the public. It is a typical western-style personalised politics: demolish a government by discrediting its leadership. It is a common tactic used by the opposition in democracies. President Nixon’s unceremonious exit following the Watergate Scandal is a case in point. Small wonder, the PTI never misses a chance to impute all kinds of sleaze to the ‘corrupt’ Zardari and the Sharifs. An avid hunter, Imran Khan’s predatory instinct is sharp. He is wary of the simmering sentiments against the governments, both at the Centre and in Punjab. Therefore, he is a ubiquitous communicator, hogging all the media, social and political outlets. And he is also ‘lucky’ to have the willing hands of some of the powerful sections of the anti-government media, which are helping him connect and communicate with the people on a daily basis. Therefore, he is pretty ‘sure’ that his communication coup wrought on his infectious message — ‘justice, humanity and self esteem’ — would sooner than later find many takers. And truly, this message is getting across to wider swaths of the urban and semi-urban areas where the people appreciate the close nexus between the socio-political crises and the ethico-cultural depravity among the ruling elite. But there is a phoney side to this hopefulness. The PTI is essentially a party of one-man — Imran Khan. Its secondary and tertiary leadership is neither impactful, nor electable on their own. True, much of our organisational culture is personality-centric. But the rival PPP and the PML-N have a substantially developed organisational and electable cadre, providing muscle, money and men to the top leadership. Contrarily, the PTI lacks a grassroots following. Its ‘soft’ and ‘sophisticated’ gentry cushioning the middle tier has not yet shown a readiness to take the rough and tumble of PTI’s ‘ideological’ politics. Its recent sit-ins against the US drone attacks and the ‘corrupt and inefficient’ democracy petered out ineffectually, notwithstanding much hype and hullaballoo in the media. Secondly, the PTI has to fill the yawning gap between its theory and practicability. It believes corruption and bad governance are the core economic and social issues. But it is short on coming up with a viable and workable contingency plan to tackle this core, which requires, inter alia, drastic administrative, judicial, electoral, fiscal, and foreign policy reforms. After all, the politicians are not the only bad guys. A host of bureaucratic, judicial, military, NGO and foreign elements are equally culpable for creating and aggravating the multifarious crises. Thirdly, the PTI vehemently opposes the US influence on our internal and external policies, which is rather good and commendable. But it does not tell us how to get rid of it in the face of the enormous US leverages on our economy, defence and political institutions, if not regional politics. Of course, fighting off the US, and by implication the IFIs (International Financial Institutions) and the US-led west, would require a powerful swell of popular votes for the PTI, if not a revolution, which does not seem to be in the making, as things stand. Indeed, the PTI may find itself caught in a nasty coalition politics if it fails to muster a majority or even a decent result in elections. The resulting wheeling and dealing would dent its ethically-pristine image and credibility with the people. Already, its image received a serious blow when in the recent by-elections in Punjab it went for candidates more on winnable factors than on merit and morality. Moreover, it may not find it easy even to forge coalitions, being opposed ‘on principle’ to all the other major players — the PPP, PML-N, MQM, PML-Q and ANP. Its close ideological affinity with the far right may also prove a stumbling block to joining a future broad-based alliance or government. Finally, the PTI has two more bars to cross: getting the military establishment on board his opposition to the US-launched war on terror, and creating a political consensus on a ‘neutral’ foreign policy. Both seem impossible tasks. The establishment would balk at snapping ties with the US because of its institutional interests and regional imperatives. And a neutral foreign policy would remain a distant dream as long as terrorism and the Indo-Pak conflicts persist. Therefore, the PTI needs to review its holier-than-thou politics, without reneging on its core philosophy. And that is politics, the art of the possible, which both President Zardari and the Sharifs believe in and practise to the hilt. The writer is a lawyer and academic. He can be reached at shahabusto@hotmail
Posted on: Wed, 23 Oct 2013 06:52:17 +0000
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