For Pakistan’s democracy
A decisive victory of a second generation British Muslim of Pakistani origin as Lord Mayor of London is a significant political event of the present time. Its impact has already reverberated in world capitals. Donald Trump, the United States Republican Party’s presumptive nominee for President in the November 2016 elections had to soften his stance on banning the entry of Muslims in the US by waving an olive branch to the Mayor elect.
The maturity, patience and openness with which Sadiq Khan conducted his election campaign and polled what’s reportedly the biggest mandate in the history of British politics from Londoners of all races, religions, ages and social strata will be a milestone for race relations and in the projection of a soft image of Muslims in the developed world. It has also conveyed a signal of unity, reflecting the British public’s mindset and its desire to create a social structure based on equality and social justice, distant from prejudices and intolerance.
The contest had narrowed down to 2 of 12 in the run, fielded by the Conservative and Labour parties. The only similarity between the two candidates was that both were sitting MPs from London’s constituencies. Sadiq Khan hailed from a humble working class background, while Zac Goldsmith was a thoroughbred aristocratic and wealthy Englishman. Interestingly, their backgrounds mattered to voters. Sadiq Khan was identified as one of the people, who made it on his own and became a symbol of hope for many languishing at the bottom. It didn’t matter for voters that he belonged to a different race or religion. He was the one who’d experienced the common people’s problems and had demonstrated his intent and passion to resolve them.
With its sagging popularity at the national level, the conservative party (presently in government) needed to retain the control of the metropolis. Prime Minister David Cameron and the incumbent Boris Johnson, a popular Mayor – who had won two successive terms – mobilised in support of their candidate.
The Council elections are fought on local issues relating to the city. National and international matters figure only if they cast repercussions on city affairs. The manifesto of all candidates was described in a small booklet dispatched by the Council to all registered voters in London. All had almost identical approach on most major issues.
Sadiq Khan campaigned on his past record, his knowledge of the city. A self made lawyer who rose through the ranks of the party after being elected as a councillor in 1994 and later as MP in 2005, he was appointed junior minister in Gordon Brown’s government, later becoming state minister for transport. Exhibiting his campaigning skills to win him the party leadership, he moved closer to Ed Milliband. He was rewarded with portfolios of Lord Chancellor and minister for London in the shadow cabinet.
Zac Goldsmith had little past public record in comparison. His campaign focused mainly on making London green. As his rating continued to trail behind Sadiq Khan in the opinion polls, the party resorted to desperate measures to bridge the gap by playing the religion card. In a deliberate attempt to generate controversy, he called Sadiq Khan radical, who had been ‘giving oxygen to extremists’. David Cameron accused Khan of sharing a platform with an extremist Imam (Salman Ghani) and being a Daesh supporter. The charges were proven false as the Imam claimed he had supported the Conservatives party against Sadiq Khan (due to his support of same-sex marriages) in a previous election.
The strategy proved to be disastrous. Not only did it fail to appeal to the public, but PM and his candidate were admonished as racists and had to tender clarifications and apologies. The voters rejected the policy of fear and voted for unity, merit, local issues and the personal commitment of the candidates. Simultaneously, the election exposed the politicians and highlighted how politics is a dirty business with no holds barred, even in the nation that is acclaimed as the mother of all democracies.
Pakistan can infer several lessons from this election. First, individuals in a democracy have the right to differ with the views of their party leaders without fear of being removed from the party. David Cameron is vigorously campaigning for remaining in the EU, on which his entire political career is at stake while Zac Goldsmith is an ardent supporter of exit (Brexit) together with Boris Johnson. Sadiq Khan has dissociated himself with his party leader Jeremy Corbyn over his left leaning socialist views – he didn’t invite the party leader to his swearing in ceremony.
Second, Sadiq Khan won the hearts and minds of the public by symbolizing to represent people of all faiths and views. Despite being a practicing Muslim himself, he has upheld and promoted liberal values. The very next day of his swearing in ceremony at a cathedral he visited a holocaust memorial ceremony ostensibly to express his indignation to anti-Semitism that his party is accused of (although Ken Livingstone and Naz Shah were relieved of their party positions due to their anti-Semitic remarks).
During each of my visits to UK I have observed more and more women wearing hijab and working in all walks of life in an integrated environment (unlike Germany or France). The previous prejudices and hatefulness seem to have evaporated and immense tolerance and acceptance has been inculcated mainly due to the emergence of people like Sadiq Khan, Syeda Warsi and a hijab clad (Bangladeshi) Nadiya Hussain. Unfortunately, we see the reverse in our country, where fundamentalism, divisions and hate are being constantly fuelled from religious and political platforms. Visitors witness more Islamophobia in our (Islamic) country than anywhere else.
Third, we must come out of our isolation of prejudices and domination of the affluent and the religious bigots. We must demand equal opportunities by rejecting the rich and famous and choose people from within our ranks who can feel the anguish of the common man and are motivated to overcome them.