PPP and PTI

Mr. Qureshi struck a deal with Imran Khan under which he would get the post of senior vice chairman of the party and chairmanship of the parliamentary board which would award party tickets for the general elections. Another part of the deal is that Mr. Qureshi would have 25 percent of the candidates of his personal choice for National Assembly Punjab Assembly seats

At a talk show on the Express News channel---aired on November 30--- anchored by Kamran Shahid, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman, Imran Khan was cornered by the youth, most probably college and university students. The youth, so far believed by many as the main supporter of Mr. Khan, was very much critical of new entrants in the PTI. They were particularly disturbed over joining the party by former PPP stalwart Shah Mehmood Qureshi and some other old guards of the status quo. Some young men and women even warned Imran Khan against hijacking of the party by seasoned politicians, now entering into PTI because of one reason or the other. A frustrated young man, after posing pinching questions to Imran, announced before the audience that he was member of the PTI and was quitting the party now.

After the Ghotki (Sindh) public meeting, wherein Mr. Qureshi announced joining the PTI, a well known anchor person and columnist of an Urdu daily opined “there are chances that other players of the team might become stronger than the captain and change captain of the team even before the final match of the world cup”, obviously pointing towards the general elections to be held in Pakistan in 2013. He wrote, “Imran Khan’s test has begun. He has to win the match and also protect his kaptani. His naib kaptan is politically much stronger than him, and other stronger people are entering into his party. Lest, tsunami should come and sweep Imran Khan himself away.”

If general elections are not going to be held soon in the country, it is too earlier to say how Imran Khan will affect the voters of PPP or for that matter any other political party. In fact, he has launched his election campaign by holding rallies and public meetings much before time. If the elections are held as already scheduled, in 2013, there is yet a lot of water to flow under the brides, and the Imran Khan’s supporters’ worries mentioned above may turn into reality. The PTI chief is gradually withdrawing from his claim of bringing change or revolution and realizing the needs of power politics.

In an interview published in the Express Tribune Magazine, he acknowledges, “This is a society where it is difficult to be honest…we will find angels here is not possible…if we exclude everyone who has changed parties or is of a slightly different ideology then it will be impossible to get any one.” Answering a question, he further said, “Yes, I was completely naïve! I would approach politicians with all sincerity and say ‘you should join me because we want to change this country’ and now when I look back I realize they must have thought what an idiot I was! Because I was being sincere and thought they would all join me just because of that. But now of course, they are all joining but they do not join simply because you are sincere…some of them will join because they are total opportunists and think you are going to win.” This realization of ground realities will bring Imran Khan among the mainstream status quo political lot leaving slogans of change and revolution far behind, and may ultimately disillusion particularly the urban educated youth which gathered around him so passionately.

Perhaps, the question of effect of Imran Khan on PPP’s politics or its voters is being raised because of Shah Mehmood Qureshi who was a senior leader of PPP. It is said Mr. Qureshi will ultimately be a trouble for Imran Khan because of his social and political clout and because of his ambitions and temperament. Reportedly, before joining the PTI, Mr. Qureshi struck a deal with Imran Khan under which he would get the post of senior vice chairman of the party and chairmanship of the parliamentary board which would award party tickets for the general elections. Another part of the deal is that Mr. Qureshi would have 25 percent of the candidates of his personal choice for National Assembly Punjab Assembly seats. A political observer says Khan and Qureshi may fall apart even before the general elections are held.

Interestingly, Shah Mehmood Qureshi is already playing tricks by not submitting his resignation from the National Assembly seat properly while he has announced his resignation in a press conference almost two weeks back. Reportedly, the national assembly secretariat has refused to process his resignation as the document is not hand-written as required by the rules and regulations. If he submits his resignation properly, it would certainly be accepted by the Speaker of National Assembly and the Election Commission would announce holding of by-elections in his constituency, subsequently.

If this happens, and Qureshi contests by-elections, he will have to face very tough contest by the candidate to be fielded by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani. It will be almost after two decades that Qureshi and Gilani groups, traditional rivals, will face each other. It will be a miracle if Qureshi wins the elections as Mr. Gilani has spent billions of rupees for the development of Multan city, he is staunch supporter of Seraiki province and he wields power. It is, however, yet to be seen whether Shah Mehmood’s spiritual following in interior Sindh turns into political following. Yet, he has to re-organize the Ghausia Jamaat, followers of Hazrat Baha Uddin Zakria, a saint of Multan, and strengthen it financially. But, it is not sure they would vote for any political party which is not imbibed with the Sindhi nationalism.

PPP and PTI have different political domains. The PPP talks of poorer segments of the population, talks of deprived regions and areas and the rights of federating units, it acknowledges ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversities, and is well entrenched in the rural Pakistan. Once again, it has been established that the PPP is not the establishment’s loved one. On the other hand, the PTI largely attracts the so-called educated urban middle class. It does not take into consideration the broader things. It focuses on corruption and governance, and largely considers the people homogeneous while the politics is divided on ethnic and class basis etc. The perceptions are that Imran Khan is an Islamist and a product of the establishment. These perceptions about the PPP and PTI would play an important role when the elections would be held in the country.