Even though the government is in a bit of a tough spot after the Panama Leaks, it is clear to all but the most emotional of the Insafians that the PTI isn’t actually clear about what, specifically, it wants.
The prime minister’s second speech on the Panama issue, about the setting up of a commission that is going to investigate the matter, seemed to have settled the issue. But it appears that the PTI’s appetite isn’t sated. We won’t allow the League to set up another commission of its own liking like the way it had during the rigging protests, said Imran Khan to the crowd that had assembled at the party’s 20th birthday celebrations in Islamabad. Curiously enough, that particular commission had been exactly what he had been demanding in the dharna. He also forgot his written signatures to the effect that if the commission were to find no rigging, he wouldn’t bring up the matter again. But, in the words of Imran Khan’s new mentor Asif Ali Zardari, “promises and agreements aren’t the Qur’aan or the Hadith.”
At the risk of stating the obvious, I don’t agree with the PTI’s stance. But I don’t resent it. This is how politics is played. The League is cornered and the PTI should twist the knife. If the government can’t stand the heat, then why are they in the kitchen?
But to that effect, they should employ better advocates. They should send the sort of spokespersons to the talk-shows who know they are playing a weak wicket but still manage to make it look like the most reasonable argument on earth. This requires close coordination at the party headquarters. It requires precision engineering of the words and arguments to be used. And it requires a bit of smoke-and-mirrors showmanship to create the illusion that they are the ones who have the facts and figures on their side.
The PTI, in its infinite wisdom, sent Shafqat Mehmood to Hamid Mir’sCapital Talk on (Geo, 25th April) where he wasn’t a patch on the information minister Pervez Rasheed. The latter had a stack of papers in front of him and was doing a point-by-point analysis of what was wrong in the PTI’s argument. That they were constantly changing the goalposts and weren’t happy even now that the government has finally agreed to their demands. Mehmood, on the other hand, was replying with pedestrian talking points. When pressed on just what the PTI’s demands were, Mehmood kept saying that the government’s lawyers should sit with their lawyers and thrash it out. If you don’t know the specific demands, then why are you on the show? The PTI clearly didn’t put their best foot forward.
In the middle of an explanation, the information minister called the PTI’s argument “bongi”, which set off a heated exchange. Shafqat Mehmood showed a disproportionate response and resorted to some personal attacks, and was paid back in kind by Rasheed.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x46wgi5
Later, on Geo’s Aapas Ki Baat, Najam Sethi revealed that there was a background to the story; that the two didn’t really like each other and that, given his meandering political career, Shafqat Mehmood should be the last person to cast any political aspersions on Pervez Rasheed. The latter started out as a PPP man and switched to the League long ago, a loyalty that he has maintained. Mehmood, on the other hand, left the civil service to join the PPP. Left the PPP when Leghari sacked it and joined his MillatParty. Left that party and joined Musharraf. Left Musharraf and “tried” to join the PML. He did work for a Punjab project with DFID for Shahbaz Sharif, though. All that, before eventually joining the PTI. In fact, considering this zigzagging trajectory, Pervez Rasheed let him off easy.
In the video below (online readers only) Najam Sethi says that Pervez Rasheed was rightly angered when called a rakha hua munshi because it was through him that Shafqat Mehmood had kept on expressing a desire to meet with Nawaz Sharif.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x475xne