Daily Times

Instead of being crippled by attacks, the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) should have kept a strong grip on its narrative and displayed a higher level of administrative performance. Above all, they had to stay polite in all circumstances avoiding rude arguments in public debates that can be counterproductive, representing anger, weakness or fear. However, the power intoxicated PML-N failed to recognise the significance of any of them letting its favourable rating plummet.

By a strong grip on narrative what I mean is the ability of the party to explain to the nation the legitimacy of their rule and the absurdity of the demands of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI). Was it that difficult? Absolutely not. We all know that overwhelming data favoured the view of the government against the claims of the protestors. First, everyone from the local pollsters to the international media had predicted a comfortable victory for the Muslim League.

Second, irrespective of the local media’s hype, people on the ground understood that the PTI was not prepared for that big a task, not yet. Inexperience aside, just before the elections, its intra-party wrangling between newcomers and old comrades had intensified into a mini-war, delaying the nomination process and holding back the campaign. Then, the PTI’s ill-timed and mismanaged (rigged) intra-party elections had irked a fair number of influential candidates who applied to get its ticket first, but later on changed their minds to join the PML-N. While inflicting more than expected losses to the former, their timely decision handed over an easy victory to the latter.

Third, if the polls are conducted in one day across Pakistan, unlike India, then no one can ensure 100 percent fair and free elections in any constituency let alone the four pointed out by the PTI with the current administrative structure. From the slums of Karachi to the lawless tribal areas, a flawless election is just not possible, no matter what. Knowing that, if electoral irregularities in some polling stations are declared as the criterion to disrupt the democratic process before conducting a serious investigation, then I must proclaim this mindset as a national tragedy. It means that from now on we will never agree on the fairness of the electoral process nor will we validate the polling results. The reason? The criterion to define fairness will be made impossible to settle between the contenders. In short, there will always be four controversial constituencies requiring limitless resources to conclude the issue.

Fourth, the flip-flops of the PTI regarding the caretaker chief minister of Punjab, the former chief justice of Pakistan and the former chief election commissioner eludes no one’s memory. Looking at just a few clips of the former captain before the elections can provide ample evidence to challenge his position after the elections. It would be like Imran Khan knocking out Imran Khan. The question we should ask is which one we should follow: the former, the later or the latest?

By a strong grip on narrative I also mean that the PML-N should expound in simple and clear terms why it is best for the country — and not only as the present government — to let the democratic process continue without interruption even when everyone recognises its imperfections and shortcomings. The party should reiterate in every debate how Pakistan benefits from long-term political stability and how turmoil created by a single political party for personal gains can jeopardise the nation’s growth and credibility. This point I am sure would have been difficult to sell as the current government, while it sat on the opposition benches, had taken part in long marches to overthrow the then constitutional government. But bygones are bygones; most of us have learnt from our experience and have moved forward. If nothing else, the PTI can understand that after the next election, if it wins, it will require the support of the opposition to strengthen the process just as much, if not more. So why sow a seed today that can hurt tomorrow?

I must add also that when the media selectively takes up the news items the administration finds biased and keeps on pounding the government with these items, the last thing that it wants to do is to lay back and wait for the news to die out on its own. This strategy of burying one’s head in the face of danger does not work for the ostrich and will not work here either. Indeed, it will lead to and further exasperate one’s damaged reputation, a reputation that hangs so low that bouncing back from it becomes an impossible task, just like what has happened to the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in Punjab.

This is why you have to dust yourself as soon as you perceive a threat and fasten your seatbelts for a long, tumultuous ride. No matter how the media spins it, you must focus on promoting the news you want people to discuss. For the PML-N, the reshuffling of the federal cabinet would have served the initial purpose, followed by regular updates on the situation in Karachi, which has improved, then the victory in the North Waziristan operation — a huge achievement — followed by a successful flood relief effort in Punjab, a praiseworthy accomplishment, then the war against polio, the metro bus projects, the railways, the motorways, and so on and so forth. In other words, the government not only has to take this wild bull by the horns, it has to control it too, breaking it in for people to ride on like an intelligent car.

Remember: offence is the best defence in which counter-allegations work too. The minister for information, Pervez Rashid, has shown early signs of life after a prolonged sleep. In his press conference on the day of the PTI rally in Jhelum, he showed video clips of the chairman inciting violence, threatening the law enforcing agencies and intimidating the bureaucracy. Now, let us see how the administration follows this up.

Instead of being crippled by attacks, the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) should have kept a strong grip on its narrative and displayed a higher level of administrative performance. Above all, they had to stay polite in all circumstances avoiding rude arguments in public debates that can be counterproductive, representing anger, weakness or fear. However, the power intoxicated PML-N failed to recognise the significance of any of them letting its favourable rating plummet.

By a strong grip on narrative what I mean is the ability of the party to explain to the nation the legitimacy of their rule and the absurdity of the demands of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI). Was it that difficult? Absolutely not. We all know that overwhelming data favoured the view of the government against the claims of the protestors. First, everyone from the local pollsters to the international media had predicted a comfortable victory for the Muslim League.

Second, irrespective of the local media’s hype, people on the ground understood that the PTI was not prepared for that big a task, not yet. Inexperience aside, just before the elections, its intra-party wrangling between newcomers and old comrades had intensified into a mini-war, delaying the nomination process and holding back the campaign. Then, the PTI’s ill-timed and mismanaged (rigged) intra-party elections had irked a fair number of influential candidates who applied to get its ticket first, but later on changed their minds to join the PML-N. While inflicting more than expected losses to the former, their timely decision handed over an easy victory to the latter.

Third, if the polls are conducted in one day across Pakistan, unlike India, then no one can ensure 100 percent fair and free elections in any constituency let alone the four pointed out by the PTI with the current administrative structure. From the slums of Karachi to the lawless tribal areas, a flawless election is just not possible, no matter what. Knowing that, if electoral irregularities in some polling stations are declared as the criterion to disrupt the democratic process before conducting a serious investigation, then I must proclaim this mindset as a national tragedy. It means that from now on we will never agree on the fairness of the electoral process nor will we validate the polling results. The reason? The criterion to define fairness will be made impossible to settle between the contenders. In short, there will always be four controversial constituencies requiring limitless resources to conclude the issue.

Fourth, the flip-flops of the PTI regarding the caretaker chief minister of Punjab, the former chief justice of Pakistan and the former chief election commissioner eludes no one’s memory. Looking at just a few clips of the former captain before the elections can provide ample evidence to challenge his position after the elections. It would be like Imran Khan knocking out Imran Khan. The question we should ask is which one we should follow: the former, the later or the latest?

By a strong grip on narrative I also mean that the PML-N should expound in simple and clear terms why it is best for the country — and not only as the present government — to let the democratic process continue without interruption even when everyone recognises its imperfections and shortcomings. The party should reiterate in every debate how Pakistan benefits from long-term political stability and how turmoil created by a single political party for personal gains can jeopardise the nation’s growth and credibility. This point I am sure would have been difficult to sell as the current government, while it sat on the opposition benches, had taken part in long marches to overthrow the then constitutional government. But bygones are bygones; most of us have learnt from our experience and have moved f