Pakistan: Imran’s growing delusions

After the Pakistan Awami Tehreek’s (PAT) decision to call off its sit-in in Islamabad, Imran Khan was expected to follow suit. However, according to the latest announcement by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) leader, he will continue the sit-in until the prime minister resigns. PAT’s decision to end the sit-in on the eve of Muharram has been hailed as a wise move in view of the potential sectarian threats. But to Imran such considerations are far meaner than the lofty aim to destabilise the government and get a chance to win the elections and become the prime minister of the country. He thinks the prime minister’s resilience to stay put in spite of the fierce protest he has put up is because of the commissions he will get on the contracts his government has signed. Since we have become accustomed to Imran’s uninformed, misplaced and underdeveloped political viewpoints, such allegations are now easy to brush aside, though it pains to find a potential leader losing his base because of an immature approach to hard political facts. And the facts are that Pakistan is facing serious problems emanating from years of terrorism and mismanagement of the energy sector. The survival of the country depends on how these two issues are solved, for which the present government needs focus.

Now that Imran has proved his point and exposed the government’s shortcomings, it is about time for him to play the role of a responsible opposition because the rhetoric of promising good days ahead will wear out one day. And for how long will he keep exposing the allegedly corrupt faces of rival politicians? Imran’s political survival will largely depend on how he saves the messiah image the youth had pinned on him, someone who will take Pakistan out of its myriad problems. Had Imran not been as cynical as he has proved himself to be since the start of the sit-ins, he might have made it to the prime minister’s slot comfortably in the 2018 elections. But then he would have had to wait for five years; a hard call for a person in a hurry to make it to the top. His rushing to Islamabad and then waiting impatiently for the umpire to raise his finger had all been part of the storyline co-authored by him to derail democracy. Inherently inclined to act autocratically, he has no ears to listen to any sane voice among or around his party supporters. He is persistent that the sit-in, now in its 70th day, would yield him the prime minister’s resignation. For all the seriousness of the purpose, he is ready to live even in a tent if he runs out of money to continue the sit-in in a container. He is lambasting the Speaker of the National Assembly and the prime minister for not accepting the resignation of his party’s MNAs. According to the standing operating procedure of parliament, which Imran considers ‘bogus’, the resignation will get accepted one way or the other. But Imran’s reluctance to send in his MNAs singly to the Speaker, who is bound to ensure the legislators had not been coerced into resigning, is dragging on the issue unnecessarily. If Imran is not convinced of the loyalties of his legislators, then it would be better to dispense with them. It is not the government making things difficult and unmanageable for Imran, it is the other way around.

Imran’s inability to analyse the situation politically will eventually reduce his campaign to a whimper. Large gatherings in big rallies have never been a guarantee of electoral success. Imran’s party is in charge of a province, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Imran’s success in the next elections will depend on PTI’s performance in KP. KP would have made Imran a success story had he understood the dedication the terror-ravaged province required of him. Unfortunately, Imran is wasting his energies on a quixotic quest to become the prime minister. He is slowly pushing himself into a cul de sac. Before it is too late, in the sense that the sit-in shrivels into nothingness, Imran needs to get back to parliament and acquire the missing political gravitas.