September 20, 2017
By Saeed Qureshi
Imran Khan the mercurial yet
inimitable chairman of the political party “Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf” (PTI) is emerging as front-line confident
leader as borne out by his speech in Hyderabad city of the Sindh province. The
public meeting was certainly huge despite being far from his home turf in
Punjab or in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province. It demonstrates that the PTI could
be gaining ground in Sindh which primarily has been, a political haven for the
PPP and MQM all these years.
In his speech, Imran Khan stated
that one of the PTI’s political opponent Mian Nawaz Sharif has been
disqualified and had to leave the slot of the prime minister because of PTI pursuit
of corruption case against him in courts. He announced that PTI was going to do
the same about Zardari; the co-chairperson of the PPP. By directly addressing Zardari He thundered
that, ““After Nawaz we are coming after you” who in his reckoning was the “biggest
problem of Sindh”. It is quite candid
that Imran is also going to launch an anti- Zardari campaign both politically
and through the judicial and legal channels.
Imran Khan pledged to lay the
foundations of a good and corruption-free leadership and governance. He talked
of taking measures and induct reforms that could benefit the downtrodden and poor
sections of the society. He pledged to bring a genuine justice system, a universal
educational and healthcare system.
He spoke on issues with eloquence
and emphasis that is the hallmark of a politician aiming at capturing power
through the peoples’ mandate. Besides he promised equal opportunities for jobs
and advancement in life to the poor, deprived and lower sections of society. He promised to empower the neglected and
impoverished people and abolish the over-lordship of the rich and privileged
classes. All this speaks for a social revolution
that is what happened in societies sunk in similar degrading conditions as
Pakistan presently is.
Bu what one would appreciate and
indeed marvel that he launched a frontal attack on Asif Ali Zardari a political
maverick and the co-chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party. Simultaneously
aiming at Bilawal Zardari Bhutto the incumbent chairman of the PPP, Imran Khan
denounced him by observing that Bilawal Zardari Bhutto was occupying a position
which neither did he earn through hard work nor deserves to hold that.
It is quite clear that the
political arena in Pakistan is now assailed by three parties namely the PMLN
headed by Kulsum Nawaz but in effect by Nawaz Sharif, the PPP headed by the Bilawal
and shared by his father.
The political clout and standing of
the PMNL in Sindh is not as robust as that of the PPP whose founder and most of
the political rank and file hail from that province. Sindh province, politically
belongs either to Muhajir Qaumi Movement(MQM) mostly confined to Karachi city
and Hyderabad or to the PPP. The PPP has
been leading other political parties in elections in Sindh as it enjoys support
and sympathy of the most of the Sindhi speaking population. Although over a
period of time, there have been dents in the citadel of PPP but still this
party somehow remains as the leading political force of that province.
But the reputation of Asif Ali
Zardari is not edifying due to his image of being a thoroughly corrupt person
who allegedly enhanced his wealth astronomically by devious means and is
maintaining huge accounts and properties abroad. Its amazing that with a
besmirched reputation of being incorrigibly corrupt person he had been the
president of Pakistan (Sept 2008-Sept 2013) which is the highest position in
any country. That aspect demonstrated his political acumen. After the murder of
his spouse Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi city in December 2007, he had been the Co-chairperson
of the Pakistan People's
Party until December
2015. When General Pervez Musharraf had to relinquish power, it was Nawaz
Sharif who assailed into the prime ministerial office with the cooperation and
collaboration of PPP with Mr. Zardari as its chairperson. As such, both Nawaz
Sharif and Zardari, despite their ill reputation and avarice for wealth
accumulation through right or wrong means deserve the appreciation for taking
Pakistan back to the democratic tracks.
While Mr. Zardari has been recently
cleansed and acquitted of all the corruption charges by the courts, the stigma
is not going to be washed off as far the people of Pakistan are concerned. It
is with that dimension in view that Imran Khan tends to revive the corruption scandals
and saga of Mr. Zardari and simultaneously offering a better and clean
leadership under PTI.
Zardari escaping all the previous
hurdles by hook or crook may also be contemplating how to manage and deal with
this latest challenge that could prove to be a Waterloo for his reputation and
even take him to the jail once again if the charges of corruption are proven in
the courts.
It is therefore, going to be a
three-dimensional political battle that might not go this time in favor of
Zardari. As far the PPP leadership is concerned some of them don’t enjoy good
reputation because of gross and uninhibited corruption including two former PPP
prime ministers: one being Pervez Ashraf and the other Yousaf Raza Gillani.
If by any stretch of imagination, PTI
cannot win majority votes in Sindh because there are well-entrenched heavyweight
political contenders one of which is the MQM. But it would certainly emerge as
a strong force in the political landscape of Sindh. It is true that people of
Sindh are divided politically between PPP and MQM with JI on the sidelines. Yet
the possibility of PTI emerging as the third political force in Sindh, an
uncharted political landscape, cannot be ruled out. I plead this aspect because
of a huge crowd in attendance at the PTI’s recent public meeting at Hyderabad
city.
Let PTI, for a change, take up the
reins of the governance both in provinces as well as the center. One good
outcome of such a development could be the possibility of the formation of a neat
and accountable government. That PTI dispensation might succeed in curbing or
eliminating the curse of corruption as well as lay the foundation of an accountable
and clean political culture in Pakistan.
It is yet to be seen that in that rather
improbable scenario how the notorious political and non-political thugs neck
deep in corruption would be dealt or react. It’s a scenario that only future
holds and it may take a pretty tough and prolonged political battling and
campaigning by the PTI leadership to unfold. Let us wait and watch what appears
on the political horizon of Pakistan.
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