Daily Times

Amid the intensifying roller coaster ride that has lately become synonymous with our politics, it is almost natural to dream about a messiah that comes and steers us out of the labyrinth. The onset of election season has, for the umpteenth time, triggered a few revolutionaries to cobble their way ahead with a new party.

After Miftah Ismail, former PPP stalwart Mustafa Khokhar has stepped into the ring, brimming with promise of yet another force to reckon with. Having tested waters for the general appetite for what the heated mavericks wished to offer as solutions, minds have already begun to look for ways to table solutions.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with wishing for a breath of fresh air, especially considering how the present political players have, more or less, failed the nation. No matter how ferociously mainstream leaders may dismiss the ground reality, the sharp shifts in their scorecards are visible to everyone. From the looks of it, PML(N) faces severe challenges to its electoral bank in the province where it had ruled the roost for the last several decades.

With PPP already reduced to the south and little to no hope available for the future of the PTI, ample space awaits a credible entrant who has a plan ready to fill up the void. The country, according to Mr Khokhar, needs progress as opposed to tried-and-failed slogans of reforms. However, if his dream team actually wishes to deliver on the promise, it would have to invest all its energies towards radical reforms.

The moment is ripe for aggressive action on all ideas they have floated around the country through their Reimagining Pakistan seminars. Perhaps, if given a chance, these political wizards might muster up some courage to act against the elite capture and finally give some respite to the country hanging on by the skin of its teeth to avoid falling into the abyss of default. But then again, wished are not horses. *