Statesmanship or gamesmanship?

More than 150 people lost their lives in the run-up to the elections; and on election day itself, scores were injured. Despite all fear and intimidation, the people – by turning out to vote – signalled their readiness to be stakeholders in the destiny of the nation, willing to confront the challenges.

The PTI chief Imran Khan made an emotional appeal to the people to go out and vote for change. Vote for change it certainly is, the ruling coalition parties that have driven Pakistan literally into the ground are now an ‘endangered species’. However, the voters played it safe, favouring the steady experience of Mian Nawaz Sharif over the charismatic Imran Khan.

What both military and civil regimes could not do to the PPP founded by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, his son-in-law Asif Ali Zardari and his shadowy Merlin operating from the presidency have managed to do with five years of misrule.

They have sacrificed the great national party, marginalising it into mostly a provincial political force. Zardari’s nuisance value will remain and he will continue to play the ‘Sindh Card’ but the writing on the wall is very clear. The strong second place showing of PML-F allied with the nationalists in interior Sindh ensures that even in the Sindh rural areas politics will be tough for the party in the future.

The 18th Amendment was turned into a joke, the government was mismanaged from the presidency using a puppet PM. The constitution now works in Mian Nawaz Sharif’s favour. Sharif can let Zardari finish his term in August or impeach him – along with the PTI he has the necessary numbers to do so. Mian Sahib is inclined to let him finish his term. Why is our future PM being so magnanimous? Will justice be served by letting Zardari go without retrieving the billions he has secreted abroad? Or is the Swiss case the symbolic price of our democracy?

Removed of his presidential immunity, Zardari and his close associates can be placed on the ECL to start with. Zardari’s close aides must not be allowed to exit Pakistan.These people have harmed the country beyond measure. People like former interior minister Rahman Malik should be a virtual mine of knowledge. Given the right ‘incentives’, they will certainly talk to save their skins.

A cursory look at the voting figures will show that Imran Khan’s tsunami touched landfall in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but only parts of Punjab. The visible enthusiasm in the streets had indicated a surge for the PTI. This turned out true for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but not for Punjab. Conversely the PML-N’s measure of popularity in Punjab was quite wrong, taking 40 more NA seats than had been projected. Dozens of races were close, with the PTI not too far behind in second place in many contests.

The first-past-the-post-system is flawed; the winner takes all but is that true representation of the stakeholders in a democracy? After all, more than 100 percent is a bit thick with indications of ballot stuffing, interference by candidates in women polling stations, etc.

The PTI asked for re-counting in 25 NA seats. The PML-N is so far ahead, the party can afford voting irregularities to be examined. A few adjustments notwithstanding, Mian Sahib won the elections fair and square. Remember 1977 – the PPP had clearly won the elections, less than two dozen seats were rigged but the entire electoral exercise became a subject of doubt and controversy.

In these elections the PML-N destroyed the PPP and the PML-Q in Punjab and the PTI put paid to the ANP in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It had been projected that the ANP would be left with four NA seats from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Even stalwarts like Asfandyar Wali Khan and Ghulam Mohammad Bilour suffered stinging defeats.

Bagging a significant number of independents, the PML-N will have a working majority to form a government without other partners. A good sign is that the MQM chief Altaf Hussain immediately called to congratulate Nawaz Sharif on his victory. While the PML-N does not need the MQM for seat ratios, it is always useful to have the MQM on board, Karachi being crucial for any federal government. The PPP has the numbers to align with the MQM to form the Sindh provincial government; and the MQM may have a vital role to play in political détente.

Visiting Beijing, one was struck by the priorities for China set out by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, “upholding social fairness and justice, improving the policy environment for development and providing high quality public service.”

The last can only become true in Pakistan when the blatant discrimination between the District Management Group (DMG) and the Provincial Civil Services (PCS) is removed. Mian Nawaz Sharif has his work cut out. Despite our human and material resources, the country is in an economic mess. Why not imitate China’s priorities for economic reforms on an urgent basis ie reduce administrative redundancy, empower the private sector and open up more to the world?

The elections were not flawless, no elections in Pakistan ever are. Yet this was the best electoral exercise conducted in Pakistan’s history. Besides knowing clearly for the first time in my life at which location to vote, thanks to ECP’s electronic message system, my name on the voter list was easily ascertained. Each page had ten voters with their photographs. That is no mean achievement!

If the polling staff did not arrive on time, that was not the ECP’s fault. The caretaker government was derelict in its administrative responsibility, and moreover local law and order comes under the interim government’s purview. The ECP staff deserve kudos for performing despite our 85-year-old media-grandstanding chief election commissioner. While the ECP’s nominated members will take all the glory for a job well done, the real credit goes to Mr Ishtiak, Secretary ECP as well as the ECP rank and file.

The PML-N forms the federal government and the government in Punjab, the PPP forms government in Sindh and the PTI should be able to do it in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Balochistan will probably have a PML-N-supported government. While the PTI will get hands-on experience of governing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, it needs the full support of the federal government because the ongoing battle to eliminate terrorism is centred in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

It was very encouraging to see Mian Nawaz Sharif reach out pragmatically to Imran Khan by visiting him in hospital. It may be too much to hope for but should the PTI become part of the federal government it would confirm that Pakistan and Mian Nawaz Sharif’s interests are one and the same.

Having proved himself politically at the polls, Mian Nawaz Sharif has shown, at least initially, that he is well on his way to becoming the political statesman this country badly needs. We need political statesmanship, not political gamesmanship!

The writer is a defence and political analyst. Email: ikram.sehgal@wpplsms.com