Pakistan: Imran’s fifty one delusions

Dr Zafar Iqbal Qureshi

In a recently conducted TV programme the anchorperson asked a senior PTI leader about the probable outcome of his party’s ‘dharna’ and their future course of action. The dharna had already outlived its usefulness and indications were that the party’s leadership was looking for an exit strategy. The logic advanced for a prolonged dharna by the senior leader to the anchorperson’s question was that since about 27 percent public messages had demanded the Prime Minister’s resignation, hence the continuation of dharna until this demand was met.

Were the 27 percent messages sufficient for prolonging the dharna? Obviously not, but more importantly one wonders about the veracity of this logic. Why a perceptible change in strategy by holding public meetings when the dharna seemed to have failed, asked the anchorperson. To this question the leader came out with a rather crisp response.

Acceding to him the latest survey of the party had shown that now 51 percent respondents had demanded the PM’s resignation. Therefore, the party is changing its strategy and tactics by taking its protest in various cities to achieve its avowed objective.

While mentioning the 51 percent figure, the PTI leader didn’t say a word about the methodology and the reliability of the survey results. This 51 percent figure, if not representative of the total population, will turn out to be a delusion. Any future tactics based on this unauthentic figure will not be of much help to the PTI. If anything it may turn out to be like sour grapes. PTI, therefore, needs to sit back and think seriously of a future course of action not dictated by data whose authenticity is questionable but based on an incisive analysis of ground reality. Perhaps the results of another survey recently conducted by PILDAT may be of some value for the PTI in charting its future course of action.

According to PILDAT survey, the Federal Government’s performance leaves much to be desired doubtlessly. On almost every front it has been perceived to be negative. Therefore, it was high time that the government started to deliver as per its promises to the people. It has to move fast on different fronts, especially poverty reduction, inflation, and unemployment. The government doesn’t have the luxury of time and can ill-afford complacency.

Province-wise, according to PILDAT survey data, Punjab Govt got 68 percent approval rate in comparison to KP’s 57 percent. Voting intention-wise, PML-N got 91 percent against PTI’s 56 percent. These statistics should bring home to the PTI leadership an important lesson: don’t waste your resources on an exercise which will again be futile and might in fact create more frustration amongst your supporters. Viewed from any angle, the PM’s resignation is not forthcoming since he still enjoys higher popular support. The PTI leadership ought to register this fact. This will help it to overcome its 51 percent delusion. Therefore, PTI should conserve its energy and resources for the next elections whenever these take place.

Here PTI leaders’ rhetoric also needs a thorough dissection. Let us focus on the recently held meeting or shall we call it a rally and the kind of rhetoric that was employed by the speakers including IK. It was interesting to hear IK saying that they would learn to speak the truth. I wish he had learnt this in the speeches that he had made since the start of his dharna. It seems that he religiously believes that telling a lie again and again shall turn into a truth. Not always though! Here are a few examples of what was said in Lahore meeting by the leaders of the party.

Mr Jehangir Tareen said in his speech, “I was a servant of the old system and now I have become free from it.” The proof is in eating the pudding. For Mr Tareen to free himself from the old system he shall have to do the following: Distribute his land among his tenants and give ownership rights of his factory to the workers. Above all, instead of travelling by a privately owned jet he needs to travel by public transport. Will he be able to do it? I doubt. One then wonders who he is trying to deceive. So much for Mr Tareen’s freeing himself from the old system. IK was quite vocal in pronouncing that if returned to power the Punjab Governor House would be turned into a library. Well, a pious idea but why cannot he do the same first in KP where his party is in power? Second, he also announced his intent to create a uniform system of education. Once again it is a noble idea, but what is stopping IK to implement this idea in KP where he doesn’t face any barriers. Respect for rule of law is better left untouched as far as its application to PTI was concerned. Literally, the party had violated every law in the rules book.

A leader has to be the embodiment of what he preaches. This is the first step in building trust. The contradictions between what a leader preaches and his actions are not the characteristics of a champion of the change that IK proclaims himself to be. IK must now begin to match his words with his deeds to be perceived as the role model by the common citizens. Simply put a leader must walk the talk.

It is a rather sad commentary on IK’s leadership that he has no regard for the PM office. His calls to his supporters in the US to raise slogans like ‘Go Nawaz Go’ in front of the UN building was unbecoming of a national leader. The PM had gone there to address the General Assembly representing Pakistan and not as NS. While IK can draw pleasure out of it, he will regret this if he ever came to occupy this office. Our national leaders need to learn not to wash their dirty linens in the outside world. Otherwise it will tarnish the image of Pakistan as an uncivil and unstable state. All of us must try to protect the identity of our motherland as a civilsed country, at least, in the outside world. Pakistan needs to move forward on the economic front which had been badly bruised by the protests of PTI and PAT. The elections, based on evidence flowing from different sources, were certainly impacted by irregularities. Yet there was no evidence to suggest that these were rigged as claimed by PTI leaders. If IK has any solid proof of rigging then he should appear before the Election Commission which has asked for it. Failure to do so will only further erode his credibility.

IK needs to show the patience of a transformational leader. His impatience will hurt him more than help him. He should be delighted on having mobilised the public opinion but this public opinion now needs to be channelised to avoid any further cleavages in the society. His future course of action must be based on primary information collected through uncontaminated sources rather than on information provided by the likes of Sheikh of Pindi. Leaders who rely on unreliable single source of information such as the 51 percent delusion, are destined to stumble.