Blogitorial – The Decline Of PTI
| By Salman Zafar |
Every good thing must come to an end. This is how nature functions. There is no permanent high, and there is no permanent decline. What’s sad is when the decline of an entity riding the high wave is tragically fast. What’s sadder is when the entity’s decline is down to its own idiosyncrasies.
Nothing epitomizes this situation better than PTI and Imran Khan.
PTI rode on a wave of Urban youth street power in the 2013 general elections. The rallies were grand. The campaigning was huge. For the first time in our history, a 3rd political force appeared to be gaining momentum. Despite all this, it would have taken an extremely naive political analyst to predict a PTI victory. When the results came in, there were no surprises. PML-N had won the elections rather comfortably. PTI had done well enough to have a vocal presence in the national assembly and create its government in KPK. Common sense dictated that PTI gracefully accept defeat, and move forward. They had wiped away the PPP vote bank in Punjab and created a government in KPK.
But common sense and PTI decided to take different routes. As things stand currently, those routes show no sign of intersecting ever again.
Imran Khan orchestrated an election campaign brutally targeting the PML-N leadership. This was expected to end when the respective provincial and federal governments took office, but it wasn’t to be. After laying low for a little while, the PTI leadership came out all guns blazing with PML-N the target yet again. The traditional accusations of rigging, all too common after elections in Pakistan, hit the headlines again. At times it was rigging across the board. At other times it was rigging in 4 constituencies. For the moment, the PTI is sticking to the 4 constituencies but all of that could change depending on what side of the bed Imran Khan gets up the next morning.
While PTI’s childish stance on multiple issues warrants a thorough piece on its own, the bigger problem is PTI’s style of politics.
PTI was positioned as an alternate in the middle of PPP’s left of centre and PML-N right of centre politics. Not a bad idea when one looks at the massive vacuum in Pakistani Politics for a 3rd force of substance. What eventually transpired was a political party engrossed in epic confusion. At least initially, PTI came out as a cleaner party compared to its counterparts. A party genuinely capable of delivering. A party holding promise. As things stand currently, PTI is trapped inside a ball of emotional chaos, desperately trying to grab power.
The emotional chaos is nowhere more prominent than in Imran Khan. Starting politics in 1996, he naively believed 2013 was his moment of glory. It wasn’t to be, and that is getting the better of him. Only a ridiculously inept politician would threaten to hang law enforcing authorities in the streets during a public rally. Only a ridiculously inept politician would believe accusations of ’35 punctures’ on mere hearsay. Only a ridiculously inept politician would attempt to dethrone a government which for all its flaws, is democratically elected and has only been in power a little over a year. There have been some moments worth commending here and there, like his stance on Polio Eradication, but such moments have been few and far between. His stance on terrorism for example, has been embarrassingly weak. If a 25 year old political novice like Bilawal Bhutto can belt out powerful statements against the TTP during his rallies, then someone of Imran Khan’s stature should be able to do much better. He has been apologetic to the extent of being shameful.
The extent of the desperation in Imran Khan and PTI’s mind is signified by their willingness to join hands with the biggest political joke of our times – Dr.Tahir Ul Qadri. When the dust settles, Qadri will be back in Canada sipping on a Tim Horton’s coffee or Molson Canadian Beer (true to religious preacher form), but Imran Khan will be in the middle of nowhere. Going by history, delusions of grandeur will incapacitate him again and he will out on the streets once more, attempting to dethrone a democratically elected government via hollow threats. While all this is going on, PTI supporters will beat their chests, promising to bring down the current system. They have already established an Insaf Youth Special Services Group. The only thing left now is a swastika on their chests, and a picture of Imran Khan performing the Nazi Salute.
Despite all this, there have been examples in history where politicians have mended their ways. But time is not on Imran Khan and PTI’s side. With every passing day, they are capitulating to their own desperation. For a political party that promised so much, its current state of affairs is nothing short of tragic and the blame for all of this lies squarely on their own shoulders no matter what transpires on their self titled Azadi March on 14th August.
The author is the founder of Very Bad Apple. He tweets @salmanzafar1985
Why do people always associate PTI’s protests with their desire to come into power? Isn’t it obvious that the elections were rigged and mendate stolen from people? If not then why werent PTI’s concerened (4 constituencies etc) were addressed before. If PML-N thinks it can fool people again after being in power for the third time then they are the actual fools.