Daily Times

Imran Khan has had 22 years to prepare for this moment.

Khan’s alma mater Aitchison College played its part; teaching him the motto: perseverance commands success. And he did persevere through the decades to attain the top office. His real test begins now and we at Daily Times wish him luck. Delivering as the Prime Minister of Pakistan is not the easiest of jobs given the complex nature of governance and general institutional decline. After his oath-taking, Khan has also unveiled a new cabinet that comprises some old faces while boasting a good number of technocrats. It remains to be seen how this technical expertise blends with political realities. Success in this office requires negotiating competing interests and, above all, statesmanship.

For this to happen, Khan will need to ‘get out’ of the container and as Bilawal Bhutto reminded him, act as the PM of all Pakistanis. Even those who did not vote for him. But the initial signs are not too comforting.

The day before the oath-taking, he delivered his maiden speech to Parliament. And it was evident that the PTI chairman was still high on post-election euphoria.

Prime Minister Khan returned to the fundamental theme on which he had contested the vote: tackling corruption. This was to be expected and was not an unwelcome move. In as much as it sends a strong signal that electoral pledges are being put on the record before lawmakers from the offset. These include ensuring accountability across the board; particularly when it comes to those who have plundered the public exchequer. But that is where he should have left it. Rather than pressing home the point about how his government will never go down the path of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) of yesteryear. And while such resolve is to be appreciated, Khan would do well to avoid unilaterally announcing what his regime is and is not amenable to. For the overriding feature of a parliamentary democracy is consensus.

Another area where the newly-elected premier could have held back in this, his first speech, was political point-scoring. This was not the time or place to mention the controversial NRO that was regrettably introduced during the Musharraf years. It is enough, for now, that the courts have summoned details of the foreign assets held by two former presidents in connection with the ongoing NRO case. Ditto when it came to Imran Khan claiming that he alone had not needed to step upon khaki shoulders to propel him to the top. Observations as to how the electoral process would have been strengthened had parliamentarians supported PTI demands for a recount back in 2013 may be valid but, again, are ill-timed at this juncture. As was taunting the opposition; daring the latter to hold a month-long sit-in to protest ballot-box irregularities; while members of his party would make up the numbers and also provide food.

Bluntly put, none of this is cricket. The moment for firebrand rhetoric to woo votes has passed. And it is worrying for a head of government to use his words so unwisely. For it suggests confrontation and a hostile majority even before the assemblies have begun functioning.

Finally, Imran’s advisers did not remind him that the struggle of the last 22 years was not his alone; regardless of what he may think. Not a single tribute was paid to party workers, or, indeed, his support base, that had stuck by him through thick and thin. This was a glaring oversight and hopefully the new PM can make amends in the days to come.

And while we are willing to put this down to a case of first-night nerves — we hope that PM Khan has got the memo. Running a country can never be a one-man show.  *

Published in Daily Times, August 19^th 2018.