Can Imran be successful in his political strategy?
By: Shafiqui A Shafique
There are basically two kinds of politics in the world the first one is positive and the second one is negative. We should think over it that which kind of politics is being practiced in our country.
This country came into being after many sacrifices of precious lives, business, properties and other valuable things to breath in the air and atmosphere of freedom, to live with unity, love, peace and happiness without any oppression and suppression of foreigners but during 70 years (1947-2017) what have we achieved except selfishness, exploitation, dishonesty, shamelessness, lawlessness under the umbrella of law and all evils activities against the people and the country.
The history of Pakistan eloquently says that right from the beginning Pakistan and its people have been facing numerous problems. Kashmir issue, murder of Shaheed-e-Millat Liaquat Ali Khan, breaking of assembly, enforcement of Martial laws, dismemberment of this country as well as two wars with India. This situation has been prevailing in this country owing to lack of sincere, dynamic and honest leadership, absence of art and science concerned with winning and holding control over a government. But unfortunately we remained deprived of a leader having the total complex of relations between people living in the country and society. Of them all the biggest drawback is corruption and blame game. All dishonest are naked in one bathroom. I mean an evil (corruption) in which most people are involved.
In spite of this some people are among us, whose hearts are bleeding and have real feelings and pains of the situation but are helpless. Imran Khan one of them who wants to bring a positive changes like other sincere and patriotic leaders. Basically Imran Khan is a cricketer 25 years ago he was one of the most charismatic sportsmen in the world. He had just led the Pakistan cricket team to their momentous first victory in the Cricket World Cup, converting himself into a national hero in the process. Converting himself from player to politician but his deep desire was to convert the devastative situation of country by all means specially to shun corruption and dishonesty from the country.
He is also witnessing hypocrisy of India, America’s friend-like enemy attitudes as well as Afghanistan’s mongrel-like behavior. He along with other honest people experiencing long, strong and all time tested friendship of China. That is the reason why he wants to alter these evils system from Pakistan by remaining far from these enemies and to come to more close with China, Iran and the states of Middle East. US drone strike in the name of hunting of Taliban leader in Pakistan is a serious issue which is violation of sovereignty.
Khan retired from cricket, and let it be known that he was set on pursuing a second career as a national politician. However, for many years Imran’s political career faced humiliating defeats and failure. Imran is planning to switch Pakistan from US to Chinese orbit to transform the region. But it is not looking an easy task as there are some elements which do not want any change in present paradigm. These elements are present right from the beginning in Pakistan. These elements are licking the basic of Pakistan like white-ants. US continuously injecting poisons in the name of aid (loans). Imran knows that Pakistan desperately needs positive changes and reforms. Should he win the next election, his rise might not just change Pakistan it may shake up the whole region.
In the 2013 elections, Imran’s PTI (Movement for Justice) made a major breakthrough. It polled strongly among young and middle-class voters in Pakistan’s major cities and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly North West Frontier Province). It has been the dominant party in that province’s government for the last five years. Progress has continued and now Imran has a genuine chance of becoming prime minister after the General Election scheduled to be held in 2018 next year. But is also an alarming that some leaders leaving their old political parties have joined Imran’s PTI, are they innocents and free of any kind of corruption. How Imran will deal with these leaders
It’s time to take him seriously as a front rank politician. And this means asking the question: what kind of a prime minister will Imran Khan be? In which direction will he steer Pakistan? Has he got the authority to do the job? Having some corrupt leaders of other parties in its own party.
Imran has positioned himself as a man of deep integrity, intent on ending the corrupt and rapacious culture which has held Pakistan back for the last fifty years. Two political parties have dominated Pakistan during this period. One is the PPP (Pakistan People’s Party), formed by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1967, which has its power base in Sindh province in southern Pakistan. The second is PML-N (Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz) which dominates Pakistan’s second largest province, the Punjab. Both parties have become associated over the years with grotesque levels of political corruption.
Since the start of his political career, Imran Khan has been utterly consistent in treating these two parties as a cartel intent on plundering the assets of the state for their own advantage. To start with Imran has found it very hard to make headway against the entrenched power block. But factors have suddenly swung dramatically in his favor. In the south, the Pakistan People’s Party has collapsed. It has never found a satisfactory replacement for Benazir Bhutto. She was replaced by her husband, Asif Ali Zardari. Elected president in a sympathy vote, Zardari left office with a bad reputation for corruption from which the party has found it impossible to recover.
Meanwhile, the Muslim League is also mired in corruption scandals. PML-N leader, Nawaz Sharif, has been declared disqualified from public office on account of forgery and lying on oath, in the wake of the ‘Panama Papers’ revelations. Other charges hover around his family. The situation is so serious that the PML-N cannot even agree who will lead it into the forthcoming elections. With both major parties crippled by scandal, the time will never be more favorable for the emergence of a new figure on a mission to clean up Pakistan politics.
Imran Khan will fight on that anti-corruption agenda next year, and this will make him a very credible figure on the domestic front. Here events are also conspiring to help Imran Khan in his tilt for the leadership of his country. For the last two decades, Imran has been campaigning against the power exercised by the United States in Pakistan politics. He has campaigned tirelessly against the murderous use of drones in the Tribal Areas and opposed the CIA’s involvement in extraordinary rendition and torture of Pakistan citizens. This strong moral stance is now paying off. Just as with his domestic anti-corruption campaign, the mood of the country is on his side.
Pakistan was for decades the most important client state of the United States in South Asia. Recently, the US has changed sides and has thrown its weight behind India. This means that Pakistan whether it wants to or not – is switching sides as well. Its ties with neighboring China, always strong, have deepened profoundly. There is a risk that Pakistan will have traded one dependent relationship for another but most Pakistanis seem willing to take it.
Obstacles in the way
That is why I believe Imran Khan can be the beneficiary of a massive change of sentiment in the upcoming elections. And if he wins power, he is capable of proving his country’s most charismatic international leader. The two most recent leaders, Zardari and Sharif, have lacked any charisma. They have never attempted to project Pakistan internationally. They have never explained what their country stood for.They have given the impression that they take too much interest in striking selfish deals for personal advantage. Imran can transcend all of this.
But one ferocious obstacle stands in Imran’s way. Can he break the grip which the Sharifs and the Bhuttos maintain over Pakistan’s electoral politics? In the rural areas, elections are not won and lost on the arguments or even the party leaders. They depend on who strikes the best deal with local notables who can deliver the vote. Five years ago Imran refused to strike the deals. This time around he is doing so. Significantly, local notables are starting to abandon the Sharifs. This pragmatism makes it easier for him to win the election. But it makes it much more difficult to keep his promises against corruption once the election is won. His other major problem in office will be to establish a relationship with the army always a major force in Pakistan politics behind the scenes.
These are problems for the future. For the time being the rise of Imran Khan is the most hopeful moment in his country’s democratic policies in half a century. He may win a mandate for the reforms Pakistan desperately needs.
