ISLAMABAD - Salman Masood - Imran Khan often becomes a slave to his own rhetoric and habit of shooting from the hip. By announcing that he would completely accept the verdict of the 2013 general election inquiry commission even before the proceedings started, Imran Khan had shot himself in the foot. Consequently, Imran Khan struggled in the press conference Saturday evening as he gave his first formal response to the inquiry commission’s finding. He lauded Supreme Court Chief Justice Nasir-ul Mulk for doing an ‘excellent job’ but in the same breath complained that the justice had left the job half-done. The chief justice was commended for his ‘alertness, intelligence and grip on law’ and yet Imran Khan expressed disappointment over the conclusion the justice drew, based over the same glowing characteristics.
At the personal level, Imran Khan is singing the same jaded political song. Obsessed with a few constituencies, Imran Khan keeps missing the forest for the trees, and in the press conference repeated the same questions about election irregularities that have been deemed inconsequential by the inquiry commission in regard to the totality of the 2013 elections. Most part of the press conference was dreary ramble and Imran Khan could have done much better.
From the incessant demands of resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during the ‘dharna’ days to the demand of resignation of election commission officials, the climbdown is steep and embarrassing. There was an opportunity to show grace in the face of the political setback by accepting the commission’s report without the incongruous if’s and but’s. Imran Khan could have accepted that he made a miscalculation by hyping up his political narrative and vaulting ambition to unachievable extremes and now planned to make amends. Forced by some sane party leaders, he did say that now the focus would be on improving governance in Khyber Pakhthunkwa and his party members would attend the proceedings of the National Assembly. But he showed hesitation in himself attending the upcoming parliament sessions. It is the same lack of respect for democratic process that has disappointed many of his followers and independent observers.
The perpetual knavish politics of the country has disillusioned its youth and urban population. There is resentment against dynasty politics. There is exasperation with empty, hollow political promises. Imran Khan was able to channelise this anger and frustration and draw the disenchanted elements around him. However, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf as a party fell short of evolving into a well-oiled machine that could perform in the rough and tumble of electoral politics. Still, standing runners up in the election was no mean feat and Imran Khan and his supporters should be proud of this achievement. But the whole effort has lost its shine due to the stubbornness over accepting the election results and glorifying the 126 days of protest sit-in outside the parliament as a great political awakening.
Unfortunately, it was not.
The protest sit-in had soon turned into a grotesque and sorry spectacle of political ambition gone awry. More than anything it drained the national energy and log-jammed the political system for several months. In the brutal landscape of realpolitik, whether out of naivety or misplaced belief in the self, Imran Khan made several mistakes, even during the crucial times when he had forced the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz to the brink. Imran Khan has developed a tendency of uttering every word with the certitude of the final truth. He keeps emphasising the strength of his ‘faith’, as if his faith trumps everything and everyone. It has only resulted in blindsiding himself and reinforcing the initial errors.
Still, not all is lost for Imran Khan and his cult like supporters. The party retains a meaningful presence in the political arena. As Pakistan Peoples Party struggles with reorganisation and internal turmoil, PTI and Nawaz League will battle it out for supremacy in the next general elections. The challenge remains for Imran Khan to learn from the past follies and have a course correction. But the press conference Saturday indicated that Imran Khan is still stuck in the same groove. And, his party continues to fail to live up to its potential. It remains a party whose sum of parts is far less than the individual potential of its leaders or supporters, who are often pulling in different directions. As the main opposition political party, it could give PML-N tough time on each and every aspect of governance, economy and foreign policy. But Imran Khan remained focussed singularly on “4 Constituencies” and expressed the same lament in the press conference for the umpteenth time.
For Nawaz League, on the other hand, the findings of the inquiry commission are a godsend. But it should not lull the ruling party into a false sense of comfort and security. Nawaz League has shown its vulnerabilities. It doesn’t take much for a sudden crisis to erupt in the country and Nawaz League is already sitting on a powder-keg.
The writer is Resident Editor, The Nation in Islamabad.