- Politics makes strange bedfellows
Otto Von Bismarck, a German aristocrat, a statesman, minister President of Prussia and first Chancellor of Germany ( 1871-1890), once said, “Politics is the art of the possible.” The quote has almost assumed the status of an adage enjoying universal acknowledgement by all those who are engaged in the pursuit of politics and state-craft. Running the state affairs is the most arduous and complicated undertaking, more so in the modern times when states are profoundly influenced by the events at the global level due to an increased degree of interdependence forcing the politicians to tailor their strategies according to the changing realities. Even while dealing with the state affairs on the internal front they often have to backtrack on their taken positions in regards to certain issues as demanded by the emerging realities on the political and economic arenas. Rigidity is simply alien to the art of politics. In my view changing of stance on taken positions by the politicians in response to the changed circumstances is what should rightly be called ‘Pragmatism’
Our own political history testifies to this irrefutable reality. Leaders and politicians who have better understanding of the challenges confronting the country try to surmount them by evolving certain strategies and policies which in their estimation are the best possible course to adopt. But certain events at the national and global level may force them to modify their approaches and come up with an entirely new strategy which they feel is imperative in the changed circumstance. Politicians and political parties in order to win the franchise of the people to rule the country do come up with manifestoes and pledges to change the economic situation of the people, improving the political environment, establishing rule of law and protection of the fundamental rights of the people. During their electoral campaigns they often try to fantasise things but when they finally come into power and the reality dawns on them, they do tend to respond to the ground realities. They even have to take hard decisions that produce results contrary to their promises made with the public, necessitated by the prevailing economic situation and in the larger national interests for a better tomorrow.
We often see strange bed-fellows in politics. Political leaders forming coalitions and alliances with their bitter rivals and sometimes even the most detested on personal level, dictated by the prevailing political realities, is quite common. It is part of politics and amply explains the veracity of the adage by Bismarck.
The hallmark of great and visionary leaders undoubtedly is their pragmatism and flexibility. Prime Minister Imran Khan was conceptually right to say “U-Turn is hallmark of great leadership. U-turns mean sensible leadership and those who show inflexibility are the most foolish.” The only point of disagreement with him is that he has not chosen the right word to say what he actually meant to say. Words have specific meaning, connotation, power and implications and one must exercise utmost care before saying them, particularly the national leaders like Imran Khan. Hopefully he will become a seasoned politician with every passing day. His wrong choice of word to expound his view has given an opportunity to opposition and many of his detractors on the social media to denigrate and ridicule him citing examples of his U-turns on different issues which are actually peripheral and inconsequential without any bearing on the real challenges. The track record of all our military and civilian leaders who have ruled this country is replete with myriad of examples of changing positions on their pledged course of action and the policies to be pursued. The world history also testifies that the leaders who changed destiny of their nations and triggered transformation at the global level often had to make compromises and deviations from their planned and envisaged strategies to accommodate and cater for the changed circumstances.
There is no doubt that the opposition has the right to keep a check on the government and criticise its policies which it thinks are not in the wider national interest
There is no doubt that the opposition has the right to keep a check on the government and criticise its policies which it thinks are not in the wider national interest but while doing so it should also take care of the fact that their actions are not designed to settle personal scores or launching personal attacks on the leaders of the ruling party. That is negative politics. The ruling and opposition parties are two sides of the same coin. The opposition in the political parlance is known to be a shadow government. Therefore it is incumbent upon the opposition parties to give their take on the substantial issues honestly staying true to the mandate given to them by the people. That is how democracy works and sustains itself. The PTI has been mandated by the people to rule the country for five years and it deserves to be given the opportunity to implement its promised programme without erecting unnecessary and undesirable obstacles that do not serve the national interests.
The PTI has inherited formidable economic and political challenges which it will have to tackle besides fulfilling the promises made to the people while winning their franchise like construction of 50 million houses and creations of 10 million jobs as well as unleashing a credible process of accountability and eradication of corruption. Whether the PTI government led by Imran Khan will be able to fulfill all its pledges by the end of its five year tenure or not, is difficult to predict. But one thing encouraging is that it has initiated credible direction-setting policies in all the domains and Imran Khan seems committed to implementing the manifesto of his party. Recent surveys including the one by Gallup indicate that 59pc of the people do support Imran’s policies and measures initiated so far in regards to fixing economic woes afflicting the country and ensuring better future for the people. The successful implementation of the PTI manifesto during the mandated period, against heavy odds, will surely make him a great leader that he alluded to in his remarks.
