The apparent ray of hope illuminating politically disappointed hearts across the country, the chain of promises tying the patriotic youth to an expectantly prosperous future – Imran Khan – is currently the most popularly discussed personality across the country.
Enrolled in a reputed institute of Pakistan, I witness the growing support of the educated class for Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) each day where every enthusiast is ready to argue their case for the man of their hopes. However, a practical analysis of his situation signifies several challenges that might pose a threat to Imran Khan’s much awaited success in the upcoming elections.
His aim cannot be fulfilled by merely mobilising the youth; an agenda based appeal would be essential in an attempt to scrape away the traditional party loyalties embedded amongst the rigid masses. From a positive perspective though this work has been made fairly easy with the ‘help’ from the parties themselves by revealing their true pictures in the form of corruption scandals and unfulfilled commitments.
Imran Khan’s extremist stance against every other party eventually has placed him in a weak spot as far as coalitions and alliances to attain formal power are concerned. Will the mounting electoral awareness of this session draw enough votes for Imran Khan’s success without such dependence?
Another forthcoming challenge is concealed in the entry of several controversial political figures into PTI. Will the ‘PTI spirit’ smudge their negativity or can their inclusion prove harmful to the sustained pure image of the party? Imran Khan’s choice of regional candidates is also worth considering. It would be interesting to see if supporters would blindly vote for PTI or base their decisions on the credibility of the respective candidates of their areas.
The real curiosity however is to see how far the unorthodox political approach of this leader would take him and whether he will be able to keep himself aloof from the colours of politics in this country if he is given the ruling position or will disappointingly end up as ‘another one of them’ in the history.
REJAA FARUQ
LUMS, Lahore