Like many Pakistanis, I admire Imran Khan and his sincerity. But supporting him politically is a different matter. He and his party – Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) – have some serious soul searching to do before people give it their political support.
Imran Khan is one of the few principled politicians we have. There is no doubt that he truly cares about the country. His bold stance on May 12 and his consistent support for the restoration of the judiciary was unmatched by any other prominent politician. His cancer hospital and the projects he has started in the field of education have been praised even by many of his critics.
Someone like myself, who is dissatisfied with the politics and corruption of the leading parties, is naturally attracted to Imran Khan who talks about principles and accountability. However, as much as I like Imran for his honesty and devotion to the country, I have some concerns about him and can not help agreeing with Shafqat Mahmood’s statement that Imran never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
Being politically inclined, I have even considered joining PTI at times, but reservations about his politics prevent me from doing so.
Imran Khan has been in politics for 13 years, and this is a long enough period to develop the party into a vibrant, democratic entity. Unfortunately, PTI still comes across more like an Imran Khan fan club rather than a democratic political party. For the most part, there is an absence of grass roots forums that meet regularly where any party member can raise issues and be heard, and the party line almost completely comes from the top.
Secondly, Imran does not realize that politics requires an appropriate mix of idealism and pragmatism and confuses this balancing act with opportunism. If he wants to serve the people of Pakistan by coming into power, then his decisions should be geared towards that goal. He had an excellent opportunity to launch himself when Nawaz Sharif offered him 20 odd seats in 1997 and again when Musharraf was willing to help him become the prime minister. Instead of spurning these offers, he should have taken a few ministries and worked hard on demonstrating through performance that he was someone who could truly deliver if given a chance. This could have provided him with the impetus needed to launch PTI into a force capable of getting elected into power on its own and then implement its reform agenda.
This unwillingness to balance idealism and pragmatism also creates doubts about his ability to deliver even if he came into power some day. It makes one wonder whether he would really take a practical approach towards addressing the country’s problems.
On top of all this, Imran Khan has a very confused stance on the Taliban where he still falls well short of fully condemning them.
He has been very consistently and forcefully bashing the Americans in recent years but the same kind of condemnation for the Taliban has not been forthcoming. This sharp contrast, when the Taliban have killed many more Pakistanis than the American drones, and when they are directly trying to destroy the state structure to establish their own rule, is hard to understand. It has taken some strong criticism for Imran Khan to finally make a few “too little too late” statements criticizing the Taliban, whereas what one expects from a good leader is the ability to clearly identify and point out a problem well ahead of time.
His stance on the current situation in Swat has again left a lot to be desired. He first vehemently opposed the military operation but did not explain what the government should do when the Taliban break a peace agreement and keep on expanding into neighbouring districts as they blatantly did after the Swat deal. Only after coming under regular fire has he finally accepted that a military operation can also be an option. He rightly says that bombings should be avoided and the operation should be carefully targeted, but the national debate could have been more focused on discussing how military action can be carried out in a way that minimizes civilian suffering if he and others had not been creating confusion by insisting that there should never be an operation.
In yet another example of muddled thinking, he now argues that before sending the army, a group of politicians should have been allowed to go and try to convince the Taliban to abide by the Swat peace deal. This makes one wonder why he did not publically propose this in the days leading up to the operation and what he is trying to accomplish by undermining the military’s efforts now that the time for this idea has clearly passed.
I really admire Imran Khan for his sincerity, but these are some of the serious issues that he and his party have to come to grips with, before PTI can make serious headway in realizing its full potential.
@ wsd
Yes, I have not seen any political party being raised from scratch in the way that PTI thinks it will be able to do. The only successful political parties that have been raised from scratch are the ones that are raised at times when there are political vacuums and a super-charismatic leader who is then able to get with him several other brains and some established politicians and sweep the political scene. ZAB and the PPP is one example of this–who took advantage of the vacuum on the left.
When this happens, it happens in a matter of two or three years—when the momentum is on. Any time it is taking 13 years, you can pretty much forget about it! Besides, unlike Imran, ZAB (flaws and all) was able to get some real brains with him right from the beginning in addition to grass roots support. Aqil is right in the sense that ZAB proved himself as a Foreign Minister (albeit in a dictator’s cabinet) and that was crucial to him getting the requisite support to launch his own party. Imran has neither got brains with him, nor the grassroots and the longer it takes, the worse off he will be politically.
And yes, there are politicians in Pakistan (both current and past) who I respect a lot more than Imran and I think have been much more helpful to Pakistan’s political space than Imran. Let me name them: Aitzaz Ahsan (known more recently for his critical role in the lawyers’ movement); Afzal Khan Lala (played a crucial role in giving the people of Swat strength against the Taliban); Javed Jabbar (one of the most intellectual Pakistanis I know–joined Benazir’s first cabinet and Musharraf initially as well but resigned both times on principle); Usman Tarakai (currently housing 6000 IDPs on his own estate and providing them with free medical care and food—defeated Asfandyar Wali in one of the seats). All these people are able to do good within the system without picking inconequential controversies and reinventing the wheel. I can name more too but these should do for now.
@ Aqil
I think you and wsd are discussing a moot point. I don’t buy that Musharraf ever offered IK the PM slot. Even Mush was not that stupid. There are at least 20 other politicians out there who claim the same thing that IK does—that he offered them the PM slot—I believe none of them.
Think about it: why would Mush offer IK PM? He has a mind of his own; has no grass roots support; constantly criticizes the west—what purpose would he serve for Mush? Jamali’s appointment placated Baluchistan to some extent (he came from an old political family there); Shaukat Aziz appeased the Americans. What possibly could IK have brought to the table? Mush would have either wanted a pliable tool like Shaukat Aziz or a politician that would lend credence to his political stature. IK was nothing but a loose cannon for him.
@Shakeel and others who are clubbing PTI with taliban and JI
The basis of this argument is PTI’s opposition of the Millitary operation. some of you think it is bad to criticize the operation but it is fine to criticize the government for IDP crises ( although it is a direct result of milli op and we know that govt cannot handle it!!!!. Some others say that even a single word againt millitary op is close to treason and a person of this opinion is pro taliban( depite the fact that army is in waziristan for 6 yrs and Malakand for last 2 yrs.) I have posted a link below where Imran was asked the same questions and has some very interesting.
http://www.insaf.pk/Media/Videos/tabid/62/articleT ype/ArticleView/articleId/2355/Imran-Khan-explains -PTIs-stance-on-Swat-operation-with-Mujahid-Barelv i-4-June-2009.aspx
@ Aqil: Your views are a classical example of Political expediency without morals/principles. In our parliamentary system your strength is determined by the no. of your elected members.How on earth Imran could change anything when his party is not present in assembly.As a matter of fact it would have been a politcal suicide. His critics have not fogotten his support for mush for his refrendum even now.Most of us who are with him are there just bcz of his stand which is his real strength.( which according to you is his real weakness!!!!!!!!). With this diasgreement I think PTI is in much better shape today as compared to 5 yrs ago and it is still growing. Our current members and higher ups (not Imran) do not beleive in such short cuts ,if people will like us they will vote for us if not we have nothing to loose.
@Vigilant: My friend it seems you have never seen any party being raised from scratch…….I think there are many in the party who openly criticize and diasgree with him……..but we are in a transition and this will need winning some respectable no. of seats in assembly till we get from “I” to “we”. By the way I would like to know who are those “charismatics” in other politcal parties and what have they contributed to their parties and to Pakistan so far by being memebrs of their respective parties?
I, too, admire Imran Khan but unfortunately, off late, can not disagree more with his views.
First and foremost, one thing that Pakistan really needs now is Unity! All oppositions and so called politicians should unite and stand by the Government. Anyone, like IK, who uses the current situation in the West Province to malign the Government should be condenmed. Dont get me wrong .. I, too, dont like the current Gov. In fact, I dont like any single parties in Pakistan. They are all messed up in the head with no clear vision. Still, let’s stand united at the moment.
IK gained my support when he asked for CJ to be reinstated. Well done. He also gained my respect as a leader when he tried to bring the much criminal gang MQM’s leader to court but has lost my complete support when he says that Army should not attack the enemies of Paksitan.
Yes, criticize the Government for their poor planning – ie, poor efforts made to support IDP’s, poor effort made to create a better police force in the troubled areas or atleast to increase the number of law enforcements in that region … but please, dont criticize the ‘better late than never’ action that’s being taken place now.
My opinion and anyone feel free to disagree. (My second post here and I like this place .. good articles posted here)
@WSD:
“CJ was atleast incharge of supreme court whereas Muharraf needed a dummy as PM. He even could not work with Jamali and needed someone like Shaukat Aziz ( no constituency, no interest in pakistan).”
Wrong on 3 counts:
1. IK would not have to be a complete dummy. Unlike Shaukat or Jamali, he would have had some political standing of his own, which would have given him some room to operate because Mush would have felt politically dependent on him to a certain extent.
2. Even being a weak PM would have given him considerable power to start new development schemes, open new schools and hospitals, improve the working of at least a few ministries, and possibly do something about the lower judiciary as well. He certainly could have negotiated with Mush for almost a free hand in at least 3-4 ministries, say education, health, and sports. The problem is that people like Imran have an all or nothing approach and they end up accomplishing nothing in the end.
3. In any case, IK could have given it a try, and if Mush did not let him do anything, he could have resigned then.