Daily Times

The so-called uneducated, illiterate, backward and not so affluent people of Pakistan chose their destiny on May 11, 2013. Like it or not, barring a few irregularities (which are expected for the most part in such a contest), the ‘Lion’ swallowed the ‘Bat’ and the ‘Arrow’. The newly indoctrinated youthful crowd received their wretched and quite shocking lesson in political science a la Pakistan-style. Ever since the social media is ablaze with their wrathful statements.

Lashing out at opponents in the Twittersphere, where this scribe gets his daily dose of entertainment, the youth are alleging widespread rigging. To top it off, they are calling the rural voters as illiterate, unaware villagers who are the basis of this rotten system. To them I say, never underestimate the power of a voter. The constitution does not require the voter to be a degree holder or be educated in an English medium school. The people, no matter who they are, what social sphere they belong to, are aware of who can be their best representatives.

The constant barrage of criticism against feudals exploiting their unaware peasants to vote under duress cannot hold water at all times. No doubt there are cases of such behaviour or other irregularities but the margin between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and other contenders is so wide that one has to statistically accept the results, no matter what. Even one of the stalwarts of the ‘Change Party’ has accepted that their strategy of relying on urban voters and dividing the rural voters failed. In addition to that, one has to shun the stereotypical notion that the urban voters were completely in favour of the so-called ‘change’ and the rural were not. For the ‘revolutionaries’, what may fit the definition of the ‘status quo’ may be what the majority really wants.

The rude awakening came for the revolutionaries that politics is not a straight line. It is a jagged edge. It is a complex cobweb of truth, lies, drama, reality, surrealism, impressions, perceptions, and emotions. The list goes on and on. But to look ahead, one has to gracefully accept the mandate and move forward. To remain hung up on the drubbing at the ballot would be detrimental and counterproductive. The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Awami National Party have received a similar treatment from the voters. It is high time for the PPP to bury its slain leaders to eternal rest and re-energise its base on newer ideologies. If it continues to flaunt the sympathy card, it will become marginalised and only relevant to its core base in rural Sindh. The party lacks a new vision, and yes, it requires a new team and above all, new blood. It cannot rely solely on its young chairman with a hyphenated last name, who will continue to regurgitate the overly repeated lines. Last but not least, it needs to rebrand itself as not the party of rural Sindh, but a party of the entire federation.

What is really interesting is how common perception is so far from reality. As many gifted writers have commented in a lighter vein that were these elections held on social media, the Change party would have won hands down. Not trying to toot my own horn, but this scribe had repeatedly written at this forum and in Twittersphere that it is the ‘real’ not the ‘virtual’ voter who decides the fate of a candidate.

With that being said, it is time to look ahead. It is time to heal and time to mature. This election was a learning experience for the new entrant politicians and their equally novice voters. What lies ahead is a very ethnically divided and polarised country. What our prime minister-elect has ahead of him is a monumental task. Hope the exile to the holy lands and the last five years have added more wisdom and maturity to him. One sincerely hopes that he is not going to repeat the mistakes of his two previous stints, and not go head on with the real power centre. His overtures of peace towards India are a very positive sign, and one can sincerely wish that our real power centre lets him act accordingly.

To the revolutionaries, who have acquired a majority in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, here comes the real challenge. It is highly likely that they will form a government in that province with their ideological cousin, the Jamaat-e-Islami. This would be a grand test for all the hyperbole that was uttered every night without fail. It is relatively easy to sit on a TV talk show set every night and point fingers at others, but it is drastically difficult to make crooked and broken things work in the real world.

Point to ponder: elections are all about the will of the people. The will of a majority, to be exact. When the majority speaks, you embrace their verdict with grace and respect. Because as Allama Iqbal very rightly said, loosely translated in English here, “A few more tests of your dedication and affection lie ahead.”

The writer is a Pakistani-American mortgage banker. He blogs at http://dasghar.blogspot.com and can be reached at dasghar@aol.com He tweets at http://twitter.com/dasghar