Daily Times

Sir: Imran Khan, former skipper of the Pakistan cricket team, has taken his party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), to victory, and is now the next Prime Minister of Pakistan. In his first speech he said that “my inspiration (is), that Pakistan should have that kind of humanitarian state, where we take responsibility for our weaker classes. The weak are dying of hunger. I will try my best. All of my policies will be made to raise our weaker classes, for our labourers, for our poor farmers…”. This was a positive sign and gave a boost to the large disenfranchised population of Pakistan.

Imran Khan’s victory in the Pakistani elections is of enormous and positive significance for all of us in South Asia. His win is of course in keeping with the global trend of the triumph of populism over the political establishment, and old political parties being eclipsed by relatively new ones or ‘third force’ parties. Imran is usually described as ‘populist’, while his party the PTI is classified as ‘centrist’ and his own personal views on issues of religion are defined as ‘liberal’. That is a welcome combination that we have yet to see in contemporary South Asian Countries.

In a long televised address claiming victory, Imran rolled out his policies and made solemn promises to the Pakistani people. His speech which was spontaneously delivered, with only a single sheet of paper on his table, which he didn’t look at except before the speech began, had two components, national and international. His heavy emphasis was on Human Development and the social issues facing Pakistan; the poor and the weak, and methods to improve their lives through poverty alleviation, social welfare, health and education.

He went on to speak about the labourers and the farmers, “ who cannot give proper food to their children”, the “children who are out of school…children who fall sick by drinking dirty water”, the unemployed, the disabled, the minorities, women and even the domestic workers “without rights”. He said he will not enact policies which primarily benefit a “small elite”. No country which has an island of the rich among a sea of poor, is a successful country, he stressed.

Here is a true progressive vision, unlike the various technocratic ‘visions’ trumpeted in the past. This was a social democratic program for a South Asian society. Pakistan has found a leader who cares for its people, putting them first; starting with the poor, the needy and the neglected:

Charismatic star Imran Khan has achieved in domestic politics that which he used to achieve on the cricket field. It is possible that he will go beyond the domestic arena and achieve for Pakistan in the global political arena that which he achieved for his country in the realm of cricket. By doing so, he may contribute to South Asian politics, through his ideas and personality that which he did in the game of cricket, in the past.

JERRY WARADARAJAH

Oman

Published in Daily Times, August 20^th 2018.