Media has become the driving force of society
Despite a split 3-2 verdict by a five-member Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, that did not apparently give a clean chit to the prime minister, the ruling PML-N successfully conveyed the perception of its ‘victory’ to the people
Immediately after the long awaited Panama Leaks case verdict was announced by the Supreme Court on 20 April, a media war broke out between the principal parties to the case – Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family members were charged for holding offshore companies in the Panama Papers revealed by the International Consortium of Journalists in April last year. PTI has since then tried to cash in this ‘blessing’ against the government after its failed dharna (sit-in) of 2014.
Despite a split 3-2 verdict by a five-member Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, that did not apparently give a clean chit to the prime minister, the ruling PML-N successfully conveyed the perception of its ‘victory’ to the people. Two of the judges were in favour of the prime minister’s disqualification while the other three asked to form a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to further investigate the allegations. Clearly, it did not set the prime minister free of charges but calling it a ‘victory’ makes sense for the PML-N as they somehow got rid of the looming threat of the prime minister’s disqualification. But the general perception delivered about the ‘victory of the PML-N’ was surely their success.
After the verdict came out, Maryam Nawaz started pouring tweets, congratulating her father.
“Mubarik ! Wazir-e-Azam Nawaz Sharif ….. Alhamdolillahi Rab-al-Aalameen,” she wrote and later shared pictures of the PML-N leaders celebrating the win. This followed celebrations by party workers as they danced and distributed sweets.
PTI on the other hand, which is known to be a social media party, went quiet while chairman Imran Khan avoided the media outside the Supreme Court and quietly went to his car. He later addressed a press conference, for damage control, and demanded the prime minister’s resignation (again) but the party had already given its perception of ‘defeat’.
“A great SC judgement which has completely rejected Nawaz Sharif’s entire story.PM should resign immediately as he has lost all moral authority,” Imran Khan tweeted over three hours later and asked PTI workers to celebrate the decision.
Something that is said immediately and the other thing said hours later surely delivers a different impression. The PTI failed to realise that media strategy is very important in this age of non-conventional wars and by the time it managed to bounce back against the prime minister, it had lost too much. Perhaps, PTI had not anticipated such a judgment but what good is Imran Khan as a politician if he had not thought of all the possible outcomes? Why had they not planned such a thing in advance is something they don’t like to answer as the party still lacks some political maturity. It creates a vacuum that it fails to fill later on and has to pay for it.
According to the apex court’s decision, the JIT formed would further probe the transfer of money abroad and release its report within 60 days but nothing big can be expected from it as none of the JITs have been able to present their reports in the history of the country. May be this will set an example but the PML-N has survived in power for this long and is expected to successfully complete its five-year tenure despite such opposition.
According to the apex court’s decision, the JIT formed would further probe the transfer of money abroad and release its report within 60 days but nothing big can be expected from it as none of the JITs have been able to present their reports in the history of the country
With next general elections around the corner, the political parties are gearing up their political activities to make their place among the people so they can get the votes. So far, PTI and PPP have not delivered much in their respective provinces while Panama Leaks have hurt the credibility of the PML-N and now that the leading opposition parties, PTI and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), have announced to start a movement against the prime minister for his resignation, not a joint one though, the PML-N would have to carefully take every step and avoid any mistake.
It majorly depends on how these parties play their cards now and how they plan their media strategies because media has become a driving force in the society. Looks like the PML-N has already realised its importance, it is time for PTI and PPP to get some serious media advice and start active media campaigns. Only then can they manage to bag some seats, otherwise they don’t have much to show to the people.
The propaganda war will soon begin on the media with ad campaigns on social and mainstream media. With media becoming the fourth pillar of state, only that party will manage to succeed who adopts a careful media strategy while others will lag behind. This is a technology-centric generation – it believes in what it sees and will vote the people who succeed in convincing it.