Vote wisely not emotionally

• What is Pakistan’s biggest problem, after all?

A leader, ideally, is one who has the ability to foresee the future, and prepares him/herself, and the nation appropriately. Iqbal did not make it to Pakistan’s independence, but had already seen, and foretold the same decades back.

As opposed to this idea of a leader, one who is a slow learner could prove to be nothing less than a disaster for a country; particularly in today’s fast paced, ever-changing globe offering furious challenges to its dwelling nations.

With the general elections 2018 a week away, Pakistan stands at a critical juncture in its history, and the crossroads of a possible turnaround, either for good or in the worst case scenario. The burden of Pakistan’s future trajectory, at this point in time, lies neither on the shoulders of political parties, and their leaders, nor the analysts attempting to enlighten the public, but rather the public itself; as it is the people who, despite all manipulations and engineering, will decide the fate of elections, and crown one of the many wannabees as the king; what we refer to as in sophisticated democratic terminologies, the chief executive.

While the political scenario is dominated by the big three i.e. PML-N, PTI, and the PPP, looking at the current political situation in the country, the contest primarily is expected to take place between PML-N and the PTI, as the PPP, despite actively campaigning, is on an all-time low. Not to underestimate though, the probability of PPP taking Sind again is very much on the cards, and will prove to be a piece of puzzle that completes the otherwise incomplete political picture.

PML-N, amid the arrest following conviction of Mian Nawaz Sharif, and his daughter Maryam Nawaz, still enjoys a lead in Punjab, but with PTI catching up fast.

With a compromised national strategy against forces of terror, the diplomatic isolation can become a reality, and Pakistan might fall from FATF grey list right to the black list

Whereas both, PML-N and the PPP, continue to enjoy their popularity in their stronghold provinces, and are expected to take big bites of the local vote bank, PTI is riding high tides all across the country, and has gained popularity at national level with leader Imran Khan in the driving seat. Despite being the most popular party of all, however, the probability of PTI forming a government in the center on its own is unlikely, and resorting to possible coalitions to do so will be a necessity for all political aspirants.

Irrespective of the aforementioned unlikelihood, Khan along with his amateur PTI team is confident of winning over Pakistan, and becoming the next prime minister. One might question the basis of rather over confidence of the formers, as it generally grows from the seed of establishment’s support, and much needed push.

Even if that is the case, which probably appears to be, as both the PML-N and the PPP have registered their dissatisfaction over the electoral transparency subject to intentioned engineering. An example of this is the media houses being asked, and directed by the unknown not to air PML-N rallies, and its leaderships messages, the intriguing question is that whether Khan is what Pakistan really needs at present?

The bitter answer, subject to a neutral and reality-based evaluation, might state no, perhaps.

Having been into politics for over two decades now, Khan, ironically, falls in the second category of leadership, as stated in the beginning i.e. a slow learner. Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif, and the Chaudhry brothers can be taken as examples.

For the period that Khan remained adamant on his ingrained principles of not taking corrupt politicians (electables) on board, and not shaking hands with the military establishment, he remained a one-man standing army. Over time, as Khan has evolved as a politician, he has apparently adopted flexibility in his principles, and this flexibility all of a sudden has taken his politics to not only to all new heights, but brought him on the verge of leading this country.

To the disappointment of many, the top of the line challenge that Pakistan is facing today is neither corruption nor poor governance, but it is the menace of violent extremism and terrorism. Khan, besides Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman, and a few other rightist parties and figures, is one of the very few political leaders who has never owned the ongoing war on terror as Pakistan’s war. Rather he has always declared it as a self-imposed war of the western world. And this stand of his persists even after the horrific loss of lives, both civilian and security forces, in terrorist attacks and fighting against the menace of terrorism respectively.

Assuming Khan in the prime minister’s seat, Pakistan might fall prey to the over-grown monster of terror courtesy a confused stance on the issue. Having made magnanimous sacrifices, and coming this far in the war on terror, the last thing Pakistan needs is a U-turn on the ongoing national security policy. Alongside the on-ground offense against terrorism, Pakistan is also engaged in fierce warfare at the diplomatic front, attempting to gain acknowledgement at world level for its role against terrorism. With a compromised national strategy against forces of terror, the diplomatic isolation can become a reality, and Pakistan might fall from FATF grey list right to the black list, which will be followed by severe economic consequences having grave implications on the socio-economic developmental agenda of PTI.

Khan might realise in a decade that the war on terror is actually Pakistan’s war, but that would be too late. Subject to Khan’s absence, Pakistan might have survived, and will survive rampant corruption, and poor governance, but with Khan’s presence, Pakistan might not survive the terror tides.

Whereas Nawaz and Zardari along with a majority of politicians are assumed to be guilty of corruption, it is imperative to note that corruption, despite being a problem, is not the only problem that Pakistan is faced off with. In fact, it might fall last on list of challenges haunting Pakistan at present.

Pakistan, for now, cannot afford a battle between a slow learner, and a fast and furious enemy.

We, as a nation, need to think beyond the obvious, and vote wisely; not emotionally!