Pakistanis want
change. They are tired of the status quo and the corruption that has permeated
all levels of the society. Imran Khan's popularity shows that people want
change. He is a new face and an honest guy who is enthusiastic about changing
Pakistan. But somehow his immense popularity among the masses fails to
translate into electoral victory. People translate their desire for change
through their votes. Something weird happens when they get into the voting
booth...they somehow press the "repeat" button in the voting booth
instead of the "change" button! Is the voting booth some magical
place where you enter and reality is altered or is it simply that we don't
understand what change is?
I think we want change but we want others to change we want others to bring the change for us. We forget that change starts with ourselves; it can't be imposed upon you. We all dream, but don't want to take an actual step in the right direction to make that dream come true. We go in the voting booth and forget what issues the country is facing and who is best equipped to fix them instead we remember our tribal, ethnic, regional allegiances...we vote in self interest, not in the interest of the country.
This doesn't bode well for Imran Khan or change. Constituency politics are alive and thriving, as seen by the recent by election results in Pakistan, where all the old faces were voted back into power in Punjab. The Bhuttos and the Sharif brothers will never be dethroned in their consituencies. Ameer Muqam no matter what party he joins will always win elections in his constituency, the Sherpaos, the Hotis and the Saifullahs will always win in their constituency.
As long as regional, ethnic and tribal loyalties take priority over loyalty to the country there is no hope of change. Because of this, things don't look too good for Imran Khan as the face of change in Pakistan. People have high expectations from him but he can't perform miracles. Even he realized the limitations of our traditional electoral system and knew he couldn't win the elections without the help of old school career politicians who are always voted in by their people. He had to play ball. So he compromised his principals and added some old faces to his party, old horses with the new brand of PTI on them. He did this out of desperation to perform well in the elections. These sell out opportunistic politicians who go to the higest bidder jumped on Imran Khan's smooth sailing PTI ship. They went on (supposedly) the winning side...they thought they will be swept into power with Imran Khan's much hyped Tsunami. But then when someone came with a higher bid to win them back they jumped the PTI ship. They probably smelled trouble and just like rats, jumped the ship before the storm hit PTI. And now the much hyped Tsunami is starting to look more and more like a ripple in the pond.
Revolutions don't come and change doesn't come just because someone says so. I think the problem with Imran Khan is that his most urgent and firm stand is the drone attacks to the exclusion of everything else. People of Pakistan have more urgent needs and a more severe situation staring them in the eyes: no jobs, no electricity, no water, high fuel and food prices and no sense of security or justice.
The problem of home grown terrorism, the Balochistan issue, and he sees drones as the most important issue to highlight in his campaign? What about his main platform that he had started the party for....Justice? Why not follow up on that? Because justice is what this country needs badly. Just because the Chief Justice has been reinstated, justice hasn't been served. The whole judicial system needs an overhaul. People should be provided swift justice and no one should be above the law; that will solve a lot of Pakistan's problems. A little accountability goes a long way. As long as people feel above the law and as long as justice can be bought, no matter how many laws you put on the books and no matter how many revolutions you start nothing will change. We don't need any new kind of government or revolution and we wouldn’t need any interim government if there was accountability.
The same old politicians, bureaucrats, judges and other leaders will have to do their job honestly if they know that they will be held accountable for their actions. People can keep voting in their family, tribesmen and bradri people but then those people will have to work honestly for fear of accountability. That is one way to bring about the change we are all dreaming of and hoping for. Provide justice for all and things will slowly start falling into place. And people will be forced to change.
I think we want change but we want others to change we want others to bring the change for us. We forget that change starts with ourselves; it can't be imposed upon you. We all dream, but don't want to take an actual step in the right direction to make that dream come true. We go in the voting booth and forget what issues the country is facing and who is best equipped to fix them instead we remember our tribal, ethnic, regional allegiances...we vote in self interest, not in the interest of the country.
This doesn't bode well for Imran Khan or change. Constituency politics are alive and thriving, as seen by the recent by election results in Pakistan, where all the old faces were voted back into power in Punjab. The Bhuttos and the Sharif brothers will never be dethroned in their consituencies. Ameer Muqam no matter what party he joins will always win elections in his constituency, the Sherpaos, the Hotis and the Saifullahs will always win in their constituency.
As long as regional, ethnic and tribal loyalties take priority over loyalty to the country there is no hope of change. Because of this, things don't look too good for Imran Khan as the face of change in Pakistan. People have high expectations from him but he can't perform miracles. Even he realized the limitations of our traditional electoral system and knew he couldn't win the elections without the help of old school career politicians who are always voted in by their people. He had to play ball. So he compromised his principals and added some old faces to his party, old horses with the new brand of PTI on them. He did this out of desperation to perform well in the elections. These sell out opportunistic politicians who go to the higest bidder jumped on Imran Khan's smooth sailing PTI ship. They went on (supposedly) the winning side...they thought they will be swept into power with Imran Khan's much hyped Tsunami. But then when someone came with a higher bid to win them back they jumped the PTI ship. They probably smelled trouble and just like rats, jumped the ship before the storm hit PTI. And now the much hyped Tsunami is starting to look more and more like a ripple in the pond.
Revolutions don't come and change doesn't come just because someone says so. I think the problem with Imran Khan is that his most urgent and firm stand is the drone attacks to the exclusion of everything else. People of Pakistan have more urgent needs and a more severe situation staring them in the eyes: no jobs, no electricity, no water, high fuel and food prices and no sense of security or justice.
The problem of home grown terrorism, the Balochistan issue, and he sees drones as the most important issue to highlight in his campaign? What about his main platform that he had started the party for....Justice? Why not follow up on that? Because justice is what this country needs badly. Just because the Chief Justice has been reinstated, justice hasn't been served. The whole judicial system needs an overhaul. People should be provided swift justice and no one should be above the law; that will solve a lot of Pakistan's problems. A little accountability goes a long way. As long as people feel above the law and as long as justice can be bought, no matter how many laws you put on the books and no matter how many revolutions you start nothing will change. We don't need any new kind of government or revolution and we wouldn’t need any interim government if there was accountability.
The same old politicians, bureaucrats, judges and other leaders will have to do their job honestly if they know that they will be held accountable for their actions. People can keep voting in their family, tribesmen and bradri people but then those people will have to work honestly for fear of accountability. That is one way to bring about the change we are all dreaming of and hoping for. Provide justice for all and things will slowly start falling into place. And people will be forced to change.
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