‘PML-N might not last the cycle’

The ruling party is chipping away, piece by piece

The PTI has become a complicated animal. It’s clearly a far thing from the party Imran Khan stitched together all those years ago. It remained a marginal influence, at best, for the longest time. Even during Gen Musharraf’s time, when it had been around a good decade and a half, the (then) president famously dismissed it as the ‘tonga party’ – Musharraf’s reference, for some reason, to the party’s only seat in the Assembly.

Somewhere between the PPP victory in ’98 and PML-N sweep in ’13, though, PTI exploded. And, for appearances at least, Imran hadn’t done anything different in the short years since democracy once again triumphed over dictatorship. Yet not only crowds that gathered to PTI ‘jalsas’ grew – by the tens of thousands – but even heavyweight politicians queued behind Imran Khan. It seemed, for a while, that the dream was finally coming full circle. Each time Imran appeared on the campaign trail, his party appeared larger, and more driven.

Then, of course, came the sudden reality check, and the rigging drama marked another process of change for PTI, turning it into a yet more complicated animal. Pundits attributed Imran’s sudden rise in politics – after languishing on the right-of-centre sidelines with religious-political groups – more to mainstream parties’ incompetence than his own promise.

Now, as the party has finally squeezed the judicial commission from the government – though events leading up to the decision remain mysterious – it is seemingly posturing for another long fight that will, according to its own reckoning, result in another general election – preferably, from PTI’s point of view, premature.

Again, a lot has changed, not just about the PTI but also its chief. Few of the founding members still stand by his side, though a lot of whom he ridiculed are now very comfortably placed on the PTI command chain. He didn’t get along with some, others didn’t get along with him, and a few just couldn’t take his aggressive posturing for too long. Kaptan allegedly has a habit of not listening, and going his own way no matter how compelling differing opinion is, and how undemocratic his attitude can be.

But Ali Zaidi has stood with him since the beginning.

“When I joined the core committee barely comprised eight to 10 people”, he said during an exclusive interview with DNA. “Now we are the second-largest vote taking party in the country, if not the largest”.

Zaidi joined the party around 1999-2000. Remember this was just when the so-called decade of democracy had run its course and few people with half a mind appreciated much about politics, politicians and especially democracy.

Somewhere between the PPP victory in ’98 and PML-N sweep in ’13, though, PTI exploded. And, for appearances at least, Imran hadn’t done anything different in the short years since democracy once again triumphed over dictatorship

“I saw him on a talk show on PTV and my first thought was ‘this man is out of his mind, what he claims can never be done’”, he said.

But then Khan’s passion also made Zaidi realise the power of dreams. And “if you can’t dream you can’t build”, and he formally joined the party around ’02. Interestingly, this was when Zaidi was going through an entrepreneurial boom of his own, his clothing business keeping him hopping back and forth between Karachi and New York. And while he was away, he helped coordinate the party’s international chapter, facilitating Khan’s gatherings and public meetings in America.

Looking back, most party old-timers accept that this was when the party really started growing. Khan’s appearances among the educated expat community boosted his appeal at home also, helped in no small way by the internet revolution, especially electronic and social media advances, that swept Pakistan. Again interestingly, Zaidi moved to Dubai, setting up another business, and helped expand the PTI franchise in the Gulf, where it expanded faster than expected.

For Zaidi, it was simply taking the message to the people. Every politician had promised practically the same things using different slogans for as long as anybody could remember. Even military dictators eventually talked the same politics as the lot they put away. But since nobody ever delivered, and politics became the most blatantly corrupt national past-time, people eventually lost faith in the ‘system’.

“Imran just brought trust to the table” he pointed out. “People knew they could trust him. He honours his promises. And when he promised he would hold everybody who looted the country accountable, they clearly trusted him”.

And PTI has already changed Pakistan. “How many times in our history has public pressure forced a government to admit rigging? How many times have status quo parties (PML-N and MQM) seen their vote banks switch so blatantly? Have people ever protested for 126 days to register their voice? If that is not change, what is?

And, of course, there is also the bit about improvement in KP. “Yes KP has changed as well. Take the police force. It is completely de-politicised. Even the chief minister has no say in recruitment, postings, etc. See if you can find a similar example in the other provinces”, he stressed.

But is it just Khan’s sincere promises and clear record that first kept people waiting for years then suddenly filled them with belief? What about those faces that are now demanding justice alongside Khan but have been part and parcel of the very forces PTI accuses of worst forms of corruption?

And what if the judicial commission is just another eyewash? Surely PTI has learnt not to take PML-N for its word by now. And anybody who knows Nawaz, or at least the last few months of Pakistan’s politics, will tell you that the prime minister will never green-light anything that might expose his ‘heavy mandate’

What about that interview in Dubai, when Zaidi sat two feet to Khan’s left, when I interviewed Kaptan in ‘11? The chief claimed he would never let anybody who had ever benefitted from “status quo politics” anywhere near the party, even if that meant “that we struggle forever”. But within months you saw the Qureshis, Kasuris and Hashmis welcomed into the fold.

Here Zaidi’s response is no different from the ordinary PTI follower. They quote historical and contemporary examples. The prophet’s example is the best, of course, and a lesson in accommodating anybody and everybody willing to ‘see the light’. And more recently Mandella’s truth and reconciliation commission provided a viable blueprint.

“When people are willing to come clean and work progressively, why shouldn’t we encourage them”? was the counter-question.

But really? Did PTI consider that they might have seen more than just the light? Perhaps more power and privilege? Especially since most were known to hop across parties when the future no longer seemed bright enough with one?

Zaidi just dismisses it with “Khan’s an idealistic person. His thought process is idealistic in nature”.

Can’t fight him on too many counts there, though. Khan did take some tough decisions in sports, philanthropy and politics. And in areas where he has been successful, he has proved pundits wrong often enough.

And what if the judicial commission is just another eyewash? Surely PTI has learnt not to take PML-N for its word by now. And anybody who knows Nawaz, or at least the last few months of Pakistan’s politics, will tell you that the prime minister will never green-light anything that might expose his ‘heavy mandate’.

“Oh we’ll go right back to protests”, he snapped. But he also said “I can’t tell you in detail” when asked about the nature of such protests.

“Firstly, there are too many players involved now, from the judiciary to intelligence agencies, and it’s not possible that everybody can be made to lie at the same time. So it’s not going to be that easy for the government to manipulate the process”.

But if they do, they will probably see more of what they saw in the dying days of the dharna, when the party switched to jalsas, and paralysed one city after another. This time the tipping point may be closer, especially if the government does not have the same cross-party political support.

“So they better make sure this process is clean. But either way, PML-N might not last the cycle”.