Before we get started, let me just make a few things clear. I am NOT a PTI or even Imran Khan fanboy. I would just be laying down (and countering) a few arguments as to why PTI is the best option in my opinion. Feel free to disagree and/ or debate.
Like most people who grew up in Punjab, I had accepted the fact that we will forever be governed by the Sharifs even if they were corrupt gangsters. I was one of those who were content with the "khata hai to lagata bhi hai" (even if he's corrupt, he works for development too) argument. In the 90's when Imran Khan had just started raising his voice, I had no particular reason to believe in him. More so, I knew Pakistani politics was a dirty game and a cricketing playboy had no business jumping in. The only admirable thing I do remember from back then is that he refused to join Nawaz Sharif when he was asked to join PML. That showed integrity.
As the years passed by and we were governed by Gen. Musharraf and the Chaudhrys, like most Pakistani youth back then, I couldn't care less about politics. Of course, one did feel bad for democracy as military dictatorship once again showed a comeback. But to be honest, I did not feel any different. In fact, the Musharraf era was one in which all the private news channels took flight and I heard the words "freedom of press" the first time. Although I don't remember any major development projects from that time, I do remember there were no crises and we even had a very friendly relationship with India.
But of course, it was the calm before the storm. No major power projects were started despite the growing need, motorways were not expanded at an optimal speed and biggest of all, we became a pawn in the USA's war in Afghanistan. That put Pakistan on the Taliban's list of enemies and we are still reaping the fruit of that decision. While I'm all for uprooting terrorism, it was well-known that Afghanistan was an unwinnable affair for the US (as we are painfully aware 17 years down the road).
During all this time, I saw Imran Khan's views changing pretty much the same as my own. Initially he was supportive of the Musharraf regime but was hostile towards the 00s. Again, in 2008, when he boycotted the elections because he refused to contest the election as long as Musharraf was president, it showed integrity. The way Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardarti swung back and forth before and after the election, I grew more and more disgusted by them and knew we needed to change as a nation. My disapproval of Musharraf peaked when he signed the NRO, which surprisingly people don't talk about anymore. That is the single most disgusting piece of legislation I have ever witnessed in my lifetime. As Imran Khan's narrative was making more and more sense to me, I was completely behind him when he was the only one who stood by his promise not to contest the election as long as Musharraf was the Chief Executive. Nawaz Sharif backed out of that promise and Asif Zardari reconciled with Musharraf as well. That was the point of maturity in Imran Khan's career as a Pakistani politician. His boycott was enough to make me boycott the 2008 election as well.
What followed was another phase of maturity as he stood on the sidelines and prepared for the 2013 elections while PML-N and PPP locked horns with unbelievable hypocrisy. How can we forget when Shehbaz Sharif used to sit in a tent in Minar-e-Pakistan to protest loadshedding when PPP was in power, something he never repeated when his brother was the prime minister. These disgusting tactics and promises of "dragging on the streets" made me realize we needed a third option, badly. I was super-pumped and excited for the 2013 elections. I was confident that if everybody had seen this ring around the rosie the way I did, we would surely turn to the next best option, Imran Khan.
However, it was not meant to be. As much as I'd hate to admit it, in 2013 I thought may be we don't deserve democracy. If a PML-N, PPP amalgam is what we were always choosing, we needed to stop wasting resources on an election and just go with a coin toss instead. In terms of performance, I must admit that PML-N was slightly better than their predecessors but overall it was much of the very same. Major issues like health, education, poverty and power remained pretty much the same. We continued to drown in the quicksand of loans and our international relations are no better, if not worse. Hence, I firmly believe that PML-N or PPP should be never be allowed one more day in public office ever again.
Brace yourselves PTI supporters, this is where it went downhill for Imran Khan. The whole sit-in in Islamabad was a gigantic failure of energy and resources, which would have better served his cause if he had worked harder in KPK. Don't get me wrong, I agreed with his notions of investigations into the election and accountability in the Panama leaks case but that does not justify the extremes to which he pushed his protests. There were other ways to keep fighting and he chose the worst option. I actually thought he would be a healthy opposition after losing the 2013 elections but he was anything but. I wish he would one day admit he was wrong there, again something he is not that good at.
Thereafter, I am not quite sure what convinced him to compromise on his
principles but I like to believe it's the fact that he knew to be prime
minister, he needed to win Punjab. And to win Punjab, he had to accept
the feudal lords of the land. The massive influx of turncoats that followed was supremely disappointing and in stark contrast to the reasons I had supported him all these years. The fact that he welcomed with open arms a number of people with shady pasts did not resonate well with me, as I'm sure is the case with most PTI supporters today. This is not to say that PTI dropped to the same level as the other big two. This was just like Imran Khan borrowing some bad apples from two piles of garbage. Please note that garbage is still garbage.
However, there were some positives that derived from this process as well. People who had been in PPP or PML-N for decades with no accountability were suddenly scrutinized for everything that maligned their past. I was astonished the way PTI supporters were criticizing Imran Khan and co for welcoming goons (especially the convicted rapist from PML-N). It showed that even though most of the PTI supporters were still behind Imran Khan, they were quick to raise their voices when it started to hit the fans. It was something completely alien to Pakistani politics; supporters criticizing their own political party. It was a pleasant surprise and I am glad they set this trend of accountability, although my confidence in Imran Khan dropped further and further.
Now, I am not a strong believer in Imran Khan's politics and definitely don't have an angelic outlook of him as many of his fans do. I just don't feel that confident that he would perform as well as I had once hoped he would. I am still hopeful, just not confident or overzealous. Thus, it is with a heavy heart, a lot of reservations and significant doubt that I will vote for PTI this election.
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