ghazi52
PDF THINK TANK: ANALYST
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The new Kings party, why it wont get anywhere; Some commentators have been at pains trying to draw parallels between the new Kings party & the rise of PTI in late 2011. Thats a false comparison.
After the Oct 30th 2011 Minar-e-Pakistan power show by PTI, electables were jumping over each other to join PTI. A large portion of them were stuck in parties like PPP & PMLQ that had no vote bank, especially in Punjab. With PTI & Imran Khan's grass root support, combined with the electables own local networks, they saw a chance of getting past the finish line at the polls. None of them was threatened of dire consequences if they did not join PTI. Now, coming back to the essential point of why would the Istehkam-e-Pakistan party not take off or reach its desired objectives?
Kings parties do best in a sort of political vacuum when most other political parties or leaders are discredited or do not have traction at the grass roots level. It finds plenty of room for manoeuvre in that case. This is not that point in time. The cities and mohallas, the villages and small towns are brimming with support for Imran Khan right now.
He is at the zenith of his popularity. No political leader before him, with the exception of the country's founder, has ever enjoyed such deep & broad popular support. Imran Khan is the ultimate reality of Pakistan's politics today that cannot be wished away with hurriedly created loose groupings of people forced into inorganic political vessels.
Finally, a quick glance at the inaugural stage of the Kings party was enough to predict its political fortunes. Whether its a true election or a politically engineered attempt at selection, the lady and gentleman on the stage yesterday did not have a single secure electoral seat between them. This event was more of a psychological operation (PSYOP).
To convey to IK and the audiences in general that IK's closest have abandoned him..or forced to abandon him. Electables and voters; take notice. But its a script from an obsolete playbook. One that may have worked in a political vacuum or perhaps a largely agrarian and less informed Pakistan of Radio Pakistan era. The political ground has significantly moved since.
There is no void at the voters level. Even the electable's tiny own network has been upended by the Imran Khan phenomenon. The social media savvy youth demographic has now become the key determinant of Pakistan's politics.
The Kings party inauguration thus had the opposite effect as social media and commentators, like those writing for BBC, tore down the PSYOP and even analysed the worn down & duress ridden faces of the participants. Even the leading members of this new contraption must indeed see it not as their baptism but a political guillotine.
The future may be uncertain, but the reality of public support that Imran Khan today enjoys is more than certain. An alliance of 13 parties with at least some genuine vote banks failed to take him down. It can thus be said with a fair degree of certitude, that the 14th party, with no ground swell, will also fail.
After the Oct 30th 2011 Minar-e-Pakistan power show by PTI, electables were jumping over each other to join PTI. A large portion of them were stuck in parties like PPP & PMLQ that had no vote bank, especially in Punjab. With PTI & Imran Khan's grass root support, combined with the electables own local networks, they saw a chance of getting past the finish line at the polls. None of them was threatened of dire consequences if they did not join PTI. Now, coming back to the essential point of why would the Istehkam-e-Pakistan party not take off or reach its desired objectives?
Kings parties do best in a sort of political vacuum when most other political parties or leaders are discredited or do not have traction at the grass roots level. It finds plenty of room for manoeuvre in that case. This is not that point in time. The cities and mohallas, the villages and small towns are brimming with support for Imran Khan right now.
He is at the zenith of his popularity. No political leader before him, with the exception of the country's founder, has ever enjoyed such deep & broad popular support. Imran Khan is the ultimate reality of Pakistan's politics today that cannot be wished away with hurriedly created loose groupings of people forced into inorganic political vessels.
Finally, a quick glance at the inaugural stage of the Kings party was enough to predict its political fortunes. Whether its a true election or a politically engineered attempt at selection, the lady and gentleman on the stage yesterday did not have a single secure electoral seat between them. This event was more of a psychological operation (PSYOP).
To convey to IK and the audiences in general that IK's closest have abandoned him..or forced to abandon him. Electables and voters; take notice. But its a script from an obsolete playbook. One that may have worked in a political vacuum or perhaps a largely agrarian and less informed Pakistan of Radio Pakistan era. The political ground has significantly moved since.
There is no void at the voters level. Even the electable's tiny own network has been upended by the Imran Khan phenomenon. The social media savvy youth demographic has now become the key determinant of Pakistan's politics.
The Kings party inauguration thus had the opposite effect as social media and commentators, like those writing for BBC, tore down the PSYOP and even analysed the worn down & duress ridden faces of the participants. Even the leading members of this new contraption must indeed see it not as their baptism but a political guillotine.
The future may be uncertain, but the reality of public support that Imran Khan today enjoys is more than certain. An alliance of 13 parties with at least some genuine vote banks failed to take him down. It can thus be said with a fair degree of certitude, that the 14th party, with no ground swell, will also fail.
