Elections 2013 pulled people out from their homes to the polling stations. Whether it was an Imran Khan phenomenon or something else that did this miracle, we do not know. The reluctant and disinterested voter could somehow see Pakistan emerging from its crisis, given the chance. It was a tussle between hope and experience. The slogan of a ‘New Pakistan’ had gained currency and the youth were eager to carve out a new country, come what may. Surprisingly enough, women, in droves, came out to cast votes. Those who had yet to attain the voting age were morose over their inability to make a difference. This sense of realisation that vote matters and that each individual has the power to change the fate of their country has been a remarkable awakening.
Mian Nawaz Sharif pitched himself as an ‘experienced’ leader who could rather unswervingly deal with the myriad problems facing Pakistan. To Khan it was the ‘hope’ tugged with the desire to build a new Pakistan out of the remnants of what has been recalled time and again the Pakistan of Jinnah. The PPP portrayed itself a party good at exposing others’ dark sides while gaining strength from the killing of Benazir Bhutto and the unjustified hanging of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Both the tactics failed. Unwittingly, the PPP actually exposed itself being devoid of any programme, leadership or future vision. A nation mired in terrorism, corruption and inflation, would discard anything that would pull it further down into an abyss, and perhaps it did not cross the minds of PPP leadership or those who had been advising them on such ill-conceived advertisement campaign against the PML-N. Hence the results, whatever the margin or differences in the scale, experience and hope have been stamped in. The rest are growling in defeat. The good part is that they have accepted the results.
Now, what about the new Pakistan? The challenges facing the new government are stupendous, the biggest being the energy crisis. The stock market advancing to an unprecedented level on the announcement of the PML-N taking the charge of Pakistan’s governance is trailed with the expectation that country’s economic environment will improve, which means businesses will be provided with the opportunity to do business with an uninterrupted supply of electricity. That means scaling the circular debt mountain that has reached almost Rs. 872.41 billion rupees. Somehow, even those who could not gather the courage to openly confess believes that this government could get the country out of this menace. How? Mian Shahbaz Sharif has given three short-term solutions. One, power theft will be controlled. Two, some rationale will be developed in dispersing gas to the fertiliser sector vis-à-vis other sectors. Three, the nonperforming arrears will be retrieved especially from government organisations and institutions. Some of these steps would generate an instant flow of cash that could be used to pay off the fuel receipts. In the medium term the opening up of Chicho ki Malian and Neelam Jehlum power projects, ruefully abandoned by the last government, would add 950 MW into the grid. For the long term however the coal recipe is still seen the option worth exploring.
In order to gain what is called a working relationship so that the country can emerge from both the literal and symbolic darkness, Mr Sharif has extended a reconciliation overture toward his political opponents. The first gesture being a visit to Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital to meet Imran Khan who is recuperating from the accident he had on May 7. Khan known for his stubbornness did however respond in a political manner, agreeing to work together, as the PML-N has given the PTI the space to form its government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Without being conspiratorial, my instinct is that this chance could well be a ploy of the PML-N to hand over a dicey province to an inexperienced party that has yet to prove its ability beyond the slogan of change. Optimistically speaking, it is chance of a lifetime for Khan and his party to prove their mettle. Since a louder voice against drones would be coming from the affected province that is KP, while the PML-N would then only have to participate in the chorus to stamp its presence.
These elections, though considered a window to a democratic dispensation in Pakistan, are not without allegations of rigging and maladjustments. These aspersions might have some truth as my own experience as a voter suggests. It was the first time that I decided to vote. I don’t belong to any party. Then I wanted to vote. Leaving the decision to my heart, I waited until the last day for the guidance. Standing in the queue to enter one of the polling booths of constituency 125, I ran into Khawaja Saad Rafique. He was overwhelmed with suspicions, abhorrence and fear. As soon as I pointed out that he was the breaking rule by getting his wife enter out of turn he yelled and said “You PTI crowd, I know where you belong, don’t talk to me, my wife is the presiding officer and she can bypass any rule.” Not only was he spewing an unfounded fear against PTI he was lying since his wife according to the law could not be the presiding officer. And she was not. Inside the booth he shouted and quarreled with the people. He was literally awash with fear. He made his wife and some handful of women enter into different booths and took the entire process from taking the thumb impression to stamping the ballot paper in his hands. Eventually, the army was called in, who had to throw him out of the polling station. Every person that I talked to on my way back and during the polling process, was annoyed by Rafique’s perturbed, confused and abnormal behavior. The irony is that when he won the polls, he was advising the PTI crowd not to feel jealous or perturbed. For days I wanted to smash my TV screen for the lie this man had been churning day in and day out. Unfortunately, the journalists-turned-anchors at eight and 10 o’clock primetime shows were selling his lie with ease. My only query is how he figured out that I was the ‘PTI crowd’, especially when I did not wear or hold any symbol to reflect party preference. Now the reality is that he has won from constituency 125 and the PTI has filed a petition in the election tribunal setup to hear the rigging cases. Rafique’s victory hardly matters, what matters is that his calibre as a former MNA and potential legislature did not match the kind of vindictive and bitter attitude he manifested during such an important day. That reinforces the suspicion that maybe the Election Commission of Pakistan had not been able to plug the necessary holes to rigging hence disappointing many who had come out to vote to savour some semblance of a new leadership.
The writer is an Assistant Editor at Daily Times and can be reached at [email protected]