By Qamar Bashir
The entire nation is reeling from the onslaught of conflicting narratives and frequent U- turns from various political parties. The public has become increasingly aware of how original narratives have been manipulated and distorted over time. They are frustrated and disillusioned by the constant introduction of new narratives that discard the older
ones without any justification, reason, or prudence. This perpetual cycle of shifting stories and changing stances has eroded trust in political discourse and left the people weary of the relentless political maneuvering.
Nawaz Sharif, after his unceremonious ouster in 2017, primarily for refusing to follow
the establishment’s lines on pressing national and international issues, invented and
injected the narrative of "giving respect to the vote." This narrative resonated with the
people, and the popularity of PML(N) soared to new heights. However, the narrative was
mercilessly killed before and after the 2024 Election depriving the PML(N) from much
needed political capital and also faced personal humiliation.
He was assured of winning a ⅔ majority but was miserably ditched. He lost his own seat
in Mansehra and was only able to save his seat in Lahore, allegedly due to brute
interference from the establishment to give him some face-saving. PML(N) allegedly sold
its soul and its brand narrative, “Give Respect to Vote” in exchange for forming the
government despite being the minority party in the parliament.
We also saw how our poor Information Minister was forced to hold an emergency press
conference where he announced the launch of Operation Azm-e-Istehkam forthwith.
However, he had to take a sharp U-turn once his announcement faced stiff opposition
from all political parties, including his own.
Later, we experienced another sharp U-turn when the Information Minister, once again
without any preparation or homework, announced the government's intention to ban the
PTI. He later had to take a U-turn after facing stiff resistance from all political parties,
including some of the most loyal leaders of the PML(N).
The PTI chairman, when ousted unceremoniously from power in 2022, adopted the
narrative that all those who claimed to be neutral are akin to animals. He qualified his
statement by arguing that only animals, who don't have minds or visions of their own,
could be neutral. He was perhaps implying that the establishment should have supported
his party when it was facing the no-confidence motion. However, since it chose not to do
so, its claims of neutrality meant that it did not support PTI anymore and had instead
shifted its blessings to other parties to bring them to power, for reasons best known only
to them.
The constant chastising of the establishment by the PTI chairman after his ouster, terming
them traitors, conspirators, and aggressors, and accusing them of seeking direction from a
foreign country, finally led to his arrest. This culminated in the May 9 incident, which
sealed the possibility of any rapprochement with the establishment.
All of a sudden, after one year of constant incarceration and maintaining the narrative
that "neutral" is equal to "animal," the PTI founder suddenly took an unexpected U-turn,
demanding the establishment to become neutral. This U-turn not only amazed other
parties and the people at large but also left the party leaders at a loss for words, grappling
for arguments to support the narrative they had been opposing since the ouster of the PTI
from the government.
Mehr Bano, the newly emerged star spokesperson of PTI, who returned to Pakistan after
participating in political advocacy in the UK Parliament, came up with a new set of
arguments to support the new narrative. She gave many reasons, one of which was that
this narrative was injected to unnerve PML(N) and PPP, putting them in a defensive
position and causing them to make mistakes that PTI could exploit for further political
mileage.
The set of arguments also included that what the founder meant was that the
establishment should stand with the righteous path, stand with justice and truth, and play
their role in ensuring the dispensation of justice and the establishment of the rule of law.
This implied that, according to them, only PTI is on the righteous path; therefore, the
establishment should stand with PTI, help it reclaim its alleged stolen narrative, and put it
in power with Imran Khan as Prime Minister.
