Imran’s blindside
Imran Khan was often heard boasting about PTI being the first party to hold intra-party elections in a fair and transparent manner and castigating other political parties for their non-democratic credentials. That myth of fairness and transparency has been exploded by the findings of the Electoral Tribunal headed by Justice (retd) Wajiuddin, submitted to the party leadership on 17th October. The report terms the intra-party elections as ‘fraudulent’ in which most of the office bearers of the party secured those positions through nominations rather than being properly elected by the party electorate . According to the media report, the party leadership including Imran Khan was desperately trying to hush up the findings of the Tribunal. Another story in the media quoting an audit report reveals that the party was not maintaining proper record of the donations and the money was stacked into private accounts of four employees of the party secretariat.
These revelations are indeed very shocking and constitute a damning indictment for a man who has been speaking from a higher moral pedestal while indulging in character assassination of other political rivals and hurling accusation of impropriety and corruption on them. It is a matter of shame that while he has been grilling all the state institutions and individuals connected with the conduct of 2013 elections and the leadership of PML-N for having stolen the elections from him, he does not feel any remorse for what has been happening within his own party and instead is trying to sweep things under the carpet.
Imran and Qadri, regrettably, have introduced a culture of indecency, violence and lawlessness in the Pakistani politics. Imran particularly has been behaving in a manner which would even put the street urchins to shame. Regrettably, he still continues to tread the same path in his public meetings in a threatening tone which is unbecoming of a person who claims himself to be the leader of the masses. A leader is a role model for his followers and as such needs to be very cautious in what he says and does because it has consequences and repercussions that have dynamics of their own. By introducing an element of violence and intolerance in politics he is taking a big risk. He fails to comprehend that his irresponsible behaviour in inciting his party workers to adopt aggressive posture towards other parties and their leaders could lead the country towards anarchy and chaos of the worst order.
There is a proverb saying “People who live in glass houses should not throw stones”. Both Imran and Qadri have an unenviable past and the former with a playboy image has innumerable skeletons in his cupboard which would keep haunting him for the rest of his life. Therefore he needs to be more careful while indulging in character assassination of others or hurling unsubstantiated allegations against the rival political leaders who are more resourceful and in a better position to unmask his immoral exploits. Both leaders already stand exposed before the nation. They must remember that they do owe an explanation to the nation about their London Plan and where they were getting the money from to finance their campaigns.
It was time that both Imran and Qadri curbed their ambitions about getting to the corridors of power through shortcuts because the nation was no more prepared to accept night raids on democracy and constitutional rule in the country. I am afraid that Qadri being a dual national does not even have the right to be elected to the Parliament unless he revokes his Canadian citizenship. By the same token he cannot even lead protests against the government or indulge in politics if one goes strictly according to the law. The Supreme Court in its decision of 13 February, 2013, had dismissed his petition for dissolving the Election Commission by questioning his locus standi in the case and remarked that being a Canadian citizen he could not cast aspersions on the Parliament of Pakistan. I think the government has shown an exceptional leniency in his case and also tolerating the unlawful activities of the duo.
It is nevertheless encouraging to note that Qadri has decided to participate in the next elections and has also ended the ‘dharna’ in Islamabad while Imran still remains adamant as ever to stay put until the resignation of the Prime Minister. But I am afraid Qadri would have to strengthen his own political credentials and his eligibility to contest elections by surrendering his Canadian citizenship, unless the Parliament changes the law and gives dual nationals the right to be elected to the Parliament. People would certainly welcome his entry into active politics and his endeavours to win public franchise through constitutional means.
Imran Khan is also better advised to revisit his antics and behave in a manner commensurate with his political stature. The PTI indeed is a potent third political force in the country and Imran must try to reinforce his gains through responsible politics deriving legitimacy from the law of the land rather than frittering away his achievements of eighteen years of struggle. That can be done only through being part of the system and trying for reforms within the confines of the constitution. He needs to come out of the illusion that some hidden hands would still help him in fulfilling his ambitions to become the Prime Minister of Pakistan. The only force that can do this are the people of Pakistan. The people have given their verdict in favour of PML-N and mandated it to handle the state affairs for a term of five years. Trying to nullify that verdict through unconstitutional means or demanding mid-term polls on the basis of unsubstantiated allegations is absolutely unjustified and unconstitutional. The Lahore High Court in its verdict of 13th August has already declared the demands of PTI and PAT as unconstitutional.