Daily Times

The drama continued for five days. The only difference was that it was no longer just another episode of political comedy but a serious and sometimes alarming turn of events that other parties could no longer ignore. He came, he threatened, he spoke, he demanded, he negotiated, he conceded and he left. In this action-packed thriller, there were many lessons to be learned. The relentless attack on the political system of Pakistan by Dr Tahirul Qadri was one of the highlights of the episodic serial on view for five days with threats of no compromise. And then, finally, compromising on most of them was like an anticlimax.

The atmosphere of uncertainty, of course, affected the economy negatively but it strangely hyped up the public sentiment. While the stock market crashed in Karachi, people had a sense of something happening; they hoped that this dharna (sit-in) may break the stalemate of seeing the ruination of their country, crying about it, but not seeing any change in it. Thus, the sense of something happening soon and different from what has been in the last five years almost overshadowed the downward trend of the economy. However, the end result again put a dampener on the common man’s expectation of hoping that an outside force may be more believable than the people in the government. What about the political parties?

The government had dismissed Dr Qadri’s sit-in as showmanship that would fizzle out as it ran out of the novelty factor. They kept on condemning him but did not bother to have a dialogue with him until the end. Their first action was to ask the MQM to abandon Dr Qadri. Rehman Malik went to London and managed to strike a deal that persuaded the MQM to withdraw from participation in the march. They must have thought that as the D-Day approached and Dr Qadri was unable to find enough political support he would withdraw. However, they found out that the momentum increased; then they sent their emissary number two — the Chaudhry brothers along with their ‘money exchanger’, Riaz Malik. That too was futile. Then Rehman Malik started on his warnings of terrorism to deter the public but by that time, the public was so charged that those warnings seemed to add to their determination. With impossible weather and improbable demands, a political impasse was inevitable. To break the impasse, the ‘Islamabad declaration’ was stage managed by people who were at each other’s throats only hours before and were now seen in each other’s arms. This left a very dark shadow on both sides and a huge question mark on the purpose and result of this exercise.

However, the result of the dharna did produce some positives. The public desire to bring a change in the country is now a fact. To do a sit-in for so many days and nights in extreme conditions is evidence of the desperation existing in people for a change. Dr Qadri’s undoubtedly strong statements on the character and performance of our leaders did resonate with the public sentiment, and the result may not have been what they wanted but hats off to their resilience. This strong sentiment is the desire for fundamental change that is required to change the government eventually through the vote.

The major opposition parties in government behaved differently. While the MQM decided to support Dr Qadri, the PML-N, in the beginning, ignored the sit-in as a non-serious effort, and then decided to gather all parties to safeguard the democratic process. This in itself is a positive happening to prevent any conspiracy theory of army interference to postpone elections. Whatever the fear, the positive impact is that the political parties are convinced that this time delaying of elections due to any unconstitutional interference will be intolerable.

The major attention in this march was on the PTI. Dr Qadri’s stand on the corruption in the country and the need for change was very similar to what the PTI had been saying for five years. Thus, most analysts felt that the PTI would gladly join Dr Qadri, as the demands were similar. To add to this Dr Qadri also admitted that Imran Khan was the only honest and credible hope of the country and invited him to join the long march. The public also felt that since there were so many similar demands, the PTI should be part of the long march. Despite huge pressure from the public, the PTI decided not to join the march. The decision was made on two grounds. Firstly, the democratic process, which is days away, should not be disrupted and anything unconstitutional should be avoided. Secondly, true and sustainable change can only be through the ballot box power of the public. The leadership team of the PTI analysed and predicted that the dharna would not be able to bring the complete change the public was hoping for. Thus the PTI’s decision of not participating, which was initially criticised, eventually proved a principled stand as the Islamabad declaration now seems to be just another declaration with very little chance of it producing any concrete results.

Dr Qadri’s intervention, notwithstanding the intention, has definitely proved to be a wake-up call for many. For the government it is an indicator of how desperate, frustrated and on-the-edge people are, and that is due to the constant deprivation of the basic facilities for living and the erosion of the quality of life. This public sentiment is now so strong that in the coming elections any deviation may result in mass chaos in the form of violent protests.

With the countdown for dissolution of the assemblies, it is time for all parties to take a serious look at their strategies. They must come up with plans that are not just slogans that the public will chant but dismiss, but with the ability to convince people that they really mean what they say. Thus for parties, just to work on fancy manifestos may not be enough. With public distrust at its height, the party that will establish its credibility of truly representing public issues and having the sincerity and capability to solve them will eventually be the party of choice for the majority of this nation.

The writer is a leadership coach, columnist and the Information Secretary of the PTI Punjab. She can be reached at andleeb.abbas1@gmail.com