Tsunami has come!
Thursday, March 8th, 2012 2:01:41 by Sajjad Hussain
Imran Khan could not have made a more promising start of his political career than his last year’s first mammoth rally in Lahore on 30 October. It had taken him almost 15 years to turn his Pakistan Tehrik-e Insaaf into a party that has a conspicuous presence in the Pakistani politics, where you could at least be invited to talk shows.
Lahore’s rally received overwhelming response from the ostensibly disenchanted citizenry; particularly from the disillusioned (and largely apolitical) youth. That was understandable given the absence of any charismatic leader dominating the political horizon after the departure of late Benazir Bhutto.
With that, he made a rapid ascension which is not particularly surprising in Pakistan. From cricketers to celebrities belonging to their respective fields, the rise and fall are curiously analogous here. It is neither politic nor polite to deny that. However, much as the rise was meteoric for Imran Khan’s PTI, the descent seems to have begun.
This downfall is quite slow and – most probably, unnoticeable. But the infighting in the party that involves the cricketer-cum-philanthropist-turned political leader and PTI captain Imran Khan and essentially political vice-captain Shah Mehmood Qureshi will go a long way to determine the future of PTI as a potent force that can sustain such shocks.
The infighting is widely unreported so far. It all started after Imran Khan’s unilateral – and therefore ultimate, decision to boycott the last month’s by-polls. Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the overly-ambitious politician and the vice-president of PTI, was opposed to it, arguing for active participation in the elections as at stake was his sole seat in Multan which he vacated after deserting PPP.
Multan is/was where Qureshi has always derived his power from. The fact that someone from his arch-rival PPP won the seat by a margin of 50,000 votes over Muslim League-Nawaz candidate has dealt a serious political and psychological blow to PTI’s Qureshi. That single seat, he thought, was his source of power that made him indispensable for Pakistani politics.
Qureshi is not a born rebel. We should not expect rebellion from him since it is interest that dictates his political decisions. But to take a stand against Imran Khan – who as a captain of national team resented and crushed dissent, may well be a form of rebellion in Qureshi’s book.
After quitting the PPP for what he described as uncompromising principles, Qureshi – however, is no longer in a comfortable position to abandon another. He joined the PTI at the expense of PML-N; a decision that – in retrospect, he will rue owing to the gains he could possibly make there.
Will there be any other party that can welcome him now? Probably when you’re as ‘rhetorically’ appealing as Marvi Memon. Besides, ever wondered if Qureshi entertained the idea of becoming a spokesperson – not foreign minister or premier alone , since he too has some rhetorical skills?
Coming back to PTI! Imran Khan as a cricketer is as famous and influential as he ever was. But to say that he shares the same fame and influence in politics is erroneous. That he succeeded to eventually prevail over the dissenting voices in the party on by-polls might be a Pyrrhic victory. There is a schism in the party that will only widen with the passage of time since every big name in PTI regards himself (not to exclude a herself here – namely Shireen Mazari) as indispensable.
That is what politics is all about. It is not the cricket team where you could oust anyone and still put together a strong side to win the game. In the largely dynastic and feudalism-dominated politics here, if you lose someone who is massively influential and powerful, you lose seat, and – therefore, election. To lose the elections means you’re politically irrelevant —until you think you can thrive on news/’analysis’-hungry media like Sheikh Rashid.
That is the inevitability Imran Khan has to face as more and more dissenting voices will hit the Tsunami-inspired PTI in the days to come.
Tsunami has indeed come. Only to consume itself!
Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=15015
Posted by Sajjad Hussain
on Mar 8 2012. Filed under Latest News, Pakistan.
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For your reference shah mahmood had denied any differences with imran khan. In fact he was one of those people who had said in the pti cec meeting that bi polls should be boycotted.
Tsunami has indeed come. not to consume itself but to destroy the status quo !!!!!