Imran Khan and his Long March
We have now entered day 6 of Azadi March and Inqalabi March and if I am to be honest, watching it has been like sitting on a new roller coaster ride, not knowing which way it will tilt and turn and how long will it last.
I have been watching these marches on Ary News, Express News and Geo News. Express News has been the most balanced out of the three channels. A number of issues have cropped up again and again, questions that anchors have asked either [a] they lack knowledge on the doctrine of democracy or to mislead the audience. I will address some of these questions in this blog one by one. (Please note I am only dealing with Azadi March)
A Dangerous Precedence
One of the arguments being put forward against Imran Khan’s march is that if successful, it will set a dangerous precedence and next time, another party can come to the capital with 20,000 people and demand resignation from the sitting Prime Minister.
On the face of it, the argument has merit however Imran Khan is doing no such thing. This march did not happen all of a sudden. Imran Khan did not wake up in the morning and decided he wanted to do a long march to Islamabad to topple the Prime Minister. Let us look at recent events:
A] PMLN wins elections. All parties make allegations of massive rigging.
B] During his first speech in Parliament, Imran Khan congratulates PMLN and requests four constituencies to be opened. Chaudhry Nisar assures him that 40 constituencies will be opened.
C] Despite having a near 2/3 majority, no reforms are proposed by government.
D] Constituencies are not opened. Where tribunals ordered a recount, PMLN candidates obtained stay orders from High courts. This includes Speaker National Assembly, who won against Imran Khan.
E] PTI holds 3 rallies as show of strength and request that their demands of four constituencies should be met
F] Imran Khan announces Azadi March and a 2 days before the March, PM decides to form a commission of 3 Supreme Court Judges to review 2013 elections.
The above is a very brief summary. Most people who follow Pakistan politics are aware that in between PMLN made appointments etc. that go against them. Imran Khan gave them enough time to act on this matter yet the government ignored him. Therefore, Imran Khan is setting a good precedence where if a government chooses to ignore genuine and reasonable demands of the opposition, demands that will ultimately strengthen democracy, such a government should be protested.
PMLN represents “18 crore awam”
This is quite laughable. 4,62,17,482 votes were polled during general election 2013. PMLN received 1,48,74,104 votes (32%) and PTI received 76,79,954 votes (17%) – both parties put together don’t even represent 50% of the population let alone “18 crore awam”
Now ask yourself, is this not a broken system where 32% votes result in 170 seats in parliament, and 17% votes (roughly half of 32%) result in only 35 seats?
Now ask yourself, where did PMLN win most of their seats from? Should one province be allowed to dictate the fate of Pakistan?
The system is flawed and PMLN is not going to allow any changes to it. With 170 seats, they control Parliament.
Imran Khan always takes U-turn
It’s politics, it demands one to be strong where they need to be strong and show flexibility where flexibility is required. And there will be occasions where policies will need to be reconsidered, plans put on hold, game-plan being changed. Etc. You expect Imran Khan to be rigid so that you may break him? Rigid people can be broken, not flexible people
And no, Imran Khan's politics will not end if he does not manage to obtain resignation from Nawaz Sharif. If PPP, PMLN, MQM can survive after having corruption and target killings accusations against them then surely PTI can survive for making a sincere effort for the people of Pakistan and falling short.
These were some of the main issues which came to my mind, however if you require clarification on issues which I have not covered, please mention them in the comments section below and I will answer them for you.