Absorbing defeat, analysing victory
Defeat is always a bitter pill to swallow whatever the nature of the competition. As much as a child may weep in anguish and frustration at losing at sports, a politician may find tears very near the surface when beaten at the polls. Those who have character can shrug off defeat with a wry smile, the famous quote “it hurts too much to laugh and I am too old to cry”, being apt. Those with character and resilience immediately take to heart the lessons learnt and get back on the trail for next time around, whenever it may be. Raised by media-hype and star quality to great expectations in public perception, both Imran Khan and Ghinwa Bhutto took a severe psychological mauling at the hands of voters but took their loss with much more grace than the big loser of the day “born-to-rule” Ms Bhutto, who took-off on histrionics bordering on the ridiculous. The latest pet object of “hate” being President Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari, Benazir seems oblivious of the fact that every time she opens her mouth to make an outrageous accusation, her credibility takes a further tumble into the depths. As for calling the President, Farooq “ul Haq”, has she bothered to take a closer look to see whom her husband has taken to resembling lately? Imran and Ghinwa went back to some selected constituencies respectively and thanked them for their consideration, if not their vote. Veteran politicians like Mustafa Khar, Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, etc kept their cool mostly, Maulana Fazlur Rahman must have thanked his stars that he was beaten by the PML candidate rather than Ms Musarrat Shaheen.
In literally going back on the campaign trail with dignity, the younger politicians followed the footsteps of Mian Nawaz Sharif since 1993. Despite knowing that his defeat was conjured up by motivated duly “programmed” computers in 1993 when PML (N) got more votes than PPP but still lost at least 15 hairline urban-rural swing seats past midnight, Mian Nawaz Sharif graciously absorbed defeat when he congratulated Benazir without any rancour in the National Assembly on being elected as PM. Mian Nawaz Sharif then went straight back onto the campaign trail, he became such a peripatetic traveller that only Mushahid Hussain among his colleagues was able to keep up this “not-so-accidental tourist” while he roamed around the countryside in many out of the way places rousing his constituents out of the depression that hit them post-elections 1993. Secretary General PML Mr Sartaj Aziz in the meantime kept a lonely vigil in the PML Secretariat in Islamabad, holding the political infrastructure from collapsing. While Pakistan followed a disastrous course economically in the years 1993-1997 because of the rather deliberate derailing of the economic locomotive, what emerged from this national and personal adversity was a leader mature in years, brimming with self-confidence and the knowledge that the absolute force of public opinion was willing to follow him anywhere in his quest for economic emancipation. Mian Nawaz Sharif absorbed defeat, contrived though it was, extremely well and thus profited it by it personally, so has the nation in its search for a leader to match its destiny. The harsh reality is that the masses have taken up Mian Sahib on his promises, he has now to deliver. On the other hand, despite a fair number of factors leading to the PPP faithful staying away in droves and ensuring her drubbing at the electoral polls, Benazir has not paid heed to “lessons learnt”. She has put up the raison d’etre for her downfall, her husband Asif Zardari, for a Senate seat. Is this limitless self-flagellation part of a permanent psyche or is this by deliberate design? Who knows what goes on in the “born-to-rule” Bhutto mind? For the time being Pakistanis seem to have given up trying. The sheer contrast between the Sharif and Bhutto stances respectively is amazing, the other politicians have been intelligent enough to take the right course.
One must analyse the reasons for PML (N)’s seemingly easy victory by an overwhelming majority. While the PPP’s track record in governance was terrible and it was expected that their voter count would drop dramatically, the fact remains that the people of Pakistan did vote for PML (N) rather than for the obvious star quality appeal of Imran Khan’s PTI and Ghinwa Bhutto’s PPP (SB) as possible alternates. As such it is logical to assume that the masses saw much more positive qualities in the PML (N) platform than that of the others. Unfortunately this theory falls flat when one realises that not even 1% of these going out to vote for their favourite parties had bothered to read or understand their respective manifestoes. Most people go on personality and perception, by that token Imran Khan should have been over the top before anyone else. However, since this did not happen by far, the safe conclusion is that people had more confidence in PML (N) and Mian Nawaz Sharif. Since PML (N) is like all the other parties of Pakistan, dependent on each constituency on the individual strength of the party candidate, the resounding victory PML (N) got on Feb 3 was almost entirely due to the mass public belief in Mian Nawaz Sharif personally. While a number of factors, including a rather pleasing, humble personality, coincided to coalesce the public support, the outstanding factor is the mass belief that he alone has the answers to the economic problems bedevilling this country. Mian Nawaz Sharif comes across as a sincere man with plenty of credibility, this makes a severe contrast with Benazir who does not on either count. Within the uniformed class, serving and retired, Benazir universally comes across as a “security threat”, in a Muslim country immersed in traditional military influence this can be very damming indeed. No doubt the Supreme Court verdict a week before the elections was a severe setback to her supporters but Benazir’s abrasive TV appearance in “Election Hour” utterly demoralized her cohorts, her defensive posture indicated that she had not only thrown in the towel but the kitchen sink as well. By Election Day it was clear that the comfortable majority forecast by most opinion polls for PML (N) was going to become a landslide.
Mian Nawaz Sharif has to build on a number of lessons from his victory, the scale of which increased because a substantial number stayed at home rather than vote for PPP. Public mood is very fickle indeed as President Leghari discovered two weeks after he had dismissed the PPP regime, the slow process of accountability almost backfired on him. If the election campaign had not taken the heat off him and the elections not been held on schedule, the President would have found himself in real trouble. Similarly the PM does not have all the time in the world at his disposal, he has to be a man in a hurry, economic amelioration and accountability must go hand in hand. His choice for the economic management team was excellent, both Sartaj Aziz and Ishaq Dar inspire confidence. The PM has put a good cabinet in place, only the odd person can be said to be controversial to some degree, the likely others he has kept out, at least till now. In the selection of his team he has been deliberate, he has to continue to being so. His innovative scheme for debt retirement and interest payments has evoked a strong and positive response from the masses but such short-time innovations will never be enough. To reform the economic system he has instituted Eleven Committees, all headed and staffed (mostly) by the private sector. The results are due to come in within a week or so. The major breakthrough has been in restoring public confidence in the future of the economy, that money is flowing back in evident from the Pak Rupee becoming stronger against the US dollar and remaining so for some time.
Every national Chief Executive has usually a “kitchen cabinet”, an “inner cabinet” and the formal full-fledged cabinet. The “kitchen cabinet” is usually composed of intimate friends (and relatives) who give advice informally about various issues. The “inner cabinet” consists of a few selected political colleagues who form the core of the decision-making process before it is presented to the cabinet for approval or otherwise. The correct way should be for options to be made available to the PM, who in his discretion can consult his “kitchen cabinet”, who should be able to speak without fear or favour so that his own individual mind is clear before he discusses various options with his “inner cabinet” colleagues. Under no circumstances should decision-making seem to emanate from the “kitchen cabinet”. Riding roughshod over the PM’s political colleagues should be avoided. Unfortunately in Pakistan as all over the world, the “kitchen cabinet” makes most of the decisions which are rubber-stamped by the “inner cabinet” before being presented to the full cabinet. In the PPP’s regime, the “kitchen cabinet” reigned supreme, giving out direct orders, the cabinet was rarely consulted. The PM has to be careful that he must carry his close cabinet colleagues as being part of the decision-making process right from the beginning. As the ultimate authority, the PM can veto any option he does not find palatable but he must take the time to explain why to his colleagues. The PM has the people’s mandate without question but he must not seem to flout it.
Victory brings euphoria, in the present environment it has brought a tremendous responsibility onto the shoulders of the PM. In analysing his victory, the PM will find that he cannot keep on basking from the glow, he has to get on with it or else there are many always waiting in the wings to stoke the public frustration into anger in the streets. Mian Nawaz Sharif has to convert his victory into deeds which will bring direct benefit to the masses and soon!
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