Daily Times

The ultimate challenge is that ideas (no matter how articulate, no matter how hard-hitting) are just ideas. Ergo, political stalwarts, Miftah Ismail, and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi may have finally succeeded in the launch of the newest party to hit the block but leaving many to wonder about the potential impacts of their creation in a ragingly tumultuous landscape.

Last year saw them hold jam-packed seminars all around the country, inviting young people to echo their reservations, register their frustrations and lay down the foundations of a political institution. And while there remains no doubt regarding the scruples and the intellect of these three leaders, who have repeatedly proven their mettle in the fields of finance (Mr Ismail) and governance (ex-PM Abbasi) particularly when pitted against unprecedented circumstances, individual voices seldom turn into a movement, that too, capable of rekindling hope.

In a country where a sprawling list of political parties, their offshoots and innumerable splinter groups claim to represent the interest of the people, a new approach towards governance (as touted by the founders of Awaam Pakistan Party) would only persevere if developed in full understanding of the ground realities.

Having beaten meanings out of buzzwords like “constitutionally aligned” and “uplifting the country, people are not ready to be played into the hands of yet another force that will put on a great but futile show on a thriving democracy.

Where’s the actual road map that could show how the party wishes to take all stakeholders on board and plan for the long term? For a party that came into being to restore an average Pakistani’s confidence in his country, there was little talk of the security challenges, the elephant-in-the-room intolerance and focus on human development.

Most importantly, if the leaders truly wish to counter the prevailing narrative hell-bent on reducing them to a millionaire’s club or old wine in a new bottle, they would work day in and out to perfect the organisational structure, speed up the membership drive and lay out a credibly, point-by-point plan to pierce through the economic gloom. *