On April 9, Imran Khan, the elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, was removed from power through a no-confidence motion against him. Earlier another elected PM Benazir Bhutto overcame a similar motion moved against her on 2 November 1989. While IK’s popularity skyrocketed after his ouster, BB’s politics was badly stained, and she never recovered from this debacle. In the case of IK it was a great victory for moral conduct, while BB fell into the trap of immoral compromise. IK could have saved his government by buying votes as Asif Zardari did in 1989 to save the regime of his wife and then to pull down IK in 2022. In both cases the democratic order was seriously damaged but IK came out ahead due to his ethical approach by saying no to the ‘Lota ‘.
The ‘Money Game’ in politics was started in 1985 by Nawaz Sharif, an ‘establishment tout ‘. After the death of the third usurper in 1988, BB emerged victorious in the electoral contest that followed. To gain power she was made to compromise. Nawaz remained the Chief Minister of the largest province, and important portfolios of Foreign Affairs, Finance and Defence were taken away from her control. As heir of the Bhutto legacy she tried her best but was repeatedly cornered by the establishment through their ‘political touts’. As a final blow, Nawaz succeeded in buying PPP dissidents and then confined them in the isolation of Chhanga Manga.
Zardari reacted by using the financial muscle of the state, he gathered his ‘herd of Legislators’ and airlifted them to Swat. In the final showdown BB prevailed with 12 votes. Since then politics in the land of the impure have been rendered impure, and buying and selling of votes has become a norm.
Being a master strategist IK refused to follow the Nawaz/Zardari approach. This time the Sindh House in Islamabad was used as a ‘Lota Camp’ where the PTI dissidents were holed up.
Currently the contest was ‘Moral vs Evil’ not ‘Evil vs Evil’ as was the case in 1989. Naturally ‘Moral Authority’ always prevails in the end. I remember the words of my late father; “No compromises; do not fear confrontation”. He strongly believed that in the end it is the game of stamina. IK being an outstanding sportsman maximized his advantage by fighting it out till the last ball, signalling an end to the ‘Zia Dark Ages’ launched through the ‘Establishment Touts’.
IK as always has snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. NS will have to look after his faltering ‘Platelets’ in London together with his two absconder sons who are wanted by the courts in Pakistan. Well done, IK, for a new dawn of democracy as envisioned by the founding fathers not the usurpers and dictators that followed.
Zardari has proven to be the biggest tormentor of democracy, ‘Siasi Bemari‘ ( Political Illness). First he grounded Bhutto’s party by going against its basic progressive ant- establishment ideology. Lahore, where the party was launched, was taken over by the Sharifs. Punjab was once the bastion of PPP, where the Jiyalas were willing to give blood for the party but no more, it’s all about money now.
Zardari was the chief architect of the no-confidence motion against IK. His objectives were clear: Finishing of corruption and money laundering cases, denting the popularity of PML(N) in Punjab while gaining the lost ground for his party.
While he has so far succeeded in the first two only, the PML(N) has lost its shine but Kaptaan is the net gainer, and Zardari has badly failed to capture the largest province of the country. Yes, Bilawal may have a future, but only if he denounces his father’s politics and adopts the Bhutto ideology of service to the nation.
Politics in the republic has been contaminated twice, once by Ayub Khan in the 150s and secondly by Zia-ul-Haq in the 1980s with the induction of businessmen in the political arena. ‘ The Ayub Era ‘ended with the free and fair elections of 1970 in which all his ‘Touts’ were wiped out together with his Pakistan Muslim League (Convention). Mujib’s Awami League captured the Eastern Wing while Butto’s PPP won big in the Western. The 1985 partyless elections opened the floodgates of corruption. Ethics, morality were all left behind in search of wealth. Zardari was impressed by the rise of the Sharifs and decided to pursue their path to glory. He prevailed over the Sharifs in the 1989 no-confidence motion but has been a big loser in his 2022 attempt as IK refused to play by his rules of the game.
A few years back I got hold of an interesting book titled The Power of Ethical Management. It was indeed an eye-opener. Strength comes through clean and honourable conduct and never without it. IK has decided to take-on the combined forces of evil; the masses have understood the dirty games being played by the players of status quo.
There is no going back now. After over three decades of total darkness, light is visible at the end of the tunnel. Another free and fair election will clean the ‘Zia Mess’. The PPP being an ideological party may survive, provided it gets rid of the enemy inherited through marriage. The father-son journey that started with selling Bambino Cinema Tickets in the black may be ending soon.
IK as always has snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. NS will have to look after his faltering ‘Platelets’ in London together with his two absconder sons who are wanted by the courts in Pakistan. Well done, IK, for a new dawn of democracy as envisioned by the founding fathers not the usurpers and dictators that followed.
