The people’s verdict of May 11 has demolished several myths and established new realities that promise a bright future for Pakistan. The realisation that this country cannot nurture democracy has finally ended due to the voters, who have rejected most of the corrupt and incompetent politicians, thus correcting the course of democracy. In fact, the verdict is the affirmation of the 1947 declaration of the Pakistan Movement: “Pakistan will be a democratic state with a just social order based on the principles of Islam.”
The nation has rejected secularism, religious extremism and ‘isms’ of all kind. It has voted for ‘moderation’ as in 1947, expressing the ‘true will’ of Pakistani nation. It is on record that whenever - though rarely - free and fair elections were held, the people had voted only the moderates to power; it is, indeed, the fundamental truth lying at the heart of its democratic ethos.
Moreover, our national institutions, namely the army and the judiciary, have mainly been responsible for derailing democracy in the past. Presently, however, they have stood wholeheartedly to determine the right course for the democratic order and have defeated all manipulations to sabotage the electoral process, thus safeguarding the nation from the catastrophe that struck Indonesia half a century back where a bloody revolution took place, resulting into more than a million dead and the Islamic order was ultimately established over the alien ideology. This happened because the elections for a peaceful transition could not be held in Indonesia; whereas they have helped Egypt, Turkey and Pakistan to become stabile and prosper.
Indeed, the new democratically-elected government will soon take up the reins of power to face the challenges with the support of the masses, who inherit the “democratic consciousness and true vision of Pakistan.”
Having said that, it is rather pathetic to see PPP and ANP being rejected by the people. The ANP melted away conceding space to PTI, which has emerged as the majority party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The PPP, battered and bruised, has receded to its base in interior Sindh, while MQM as usual rules Karachi.
Surprisingly Imran Khan targeted Punjab, but hit the ‘bull’ in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. (A bad shot, indeed!) But since PTI has been allowed to head the provincial government, Imran’s leadership qualities will be tested in dealing with the challenges existing there.
Let me add that our border areas with Afghanistan are the hub of Islamic resistance, which has defeated the Soviets, the Americans and their allies. From here also rises the resistance against Pakistan. Such is the muddle Imran has to wade through. Sagacity demands that Mian Nawaz Sharif should help him to deal with such daunting problems to bring peace in Pakistan.
Furthermore, the country’s economy is in serious jeopardy, yet one must have confidence in the resilience of the nation to fight back, just the way our agriculturists and the industrialists have fought the curse of energy crisis maintaining the export level of about $30 billion.
Overseas Pakistanis now remit over $15 billion a year, lessening the debt burden liabilities. And amazingly our Stock Exchange has been buoyant for several months, with index crossing the figure of 20,000, despite all the bad news. It appears that our businessmen and investors, perhaps, knew about the new face of politics to emerge in Pakistan.
Further, the curse of terrorism will gradually fade away with the withdrawal of the occupation forces in Afghanistan, who have a stake in Pakistan. We have to be careful in being part of the “strategic cooperation to defeat terrorism in Pakistan and Afghanistan.” Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan and Maulana Fazlur Rahman are on the same page on the issue, as declared by the All Parties Conference on February 28, 2013, and, subsequently, endorsed by Parliament.
Sharif seems to be in a great hurry to improve relations with India and find solution to the Kashmir problem. No doubt this is an important matter, but must be seen in the context of changed geopolitical realities of the 21st century - particularly the ‘Shift of the Strategic Pivot’ to Asia Pacific; withdrawal of occupation forces from Afghanistan; merging Russo-Chinese interests in the region; Indian hegemonic ambitions of regional primacy and the surge of Muslim consciousness and its impact on Pakistan.
The important issues of the rivers water, Gwadar and Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline demand a careful approach. The new regime, headed by Mian Nawaz Sharif, no doubt would face many challenges, but the ideal conditions provided by the verdict of May 11 provide opportunities to rise to the occasion and justify the trust reposed in them by the nation.

The writer is a former chief of army staff.