Will Imran Khan now please — please! — give us a break and call off his unending, hysterical anti-rigging campaign?

After all, how much mileage can you get from one allegation? Fully half of Nawaz Sharif’s tenure has been marked by Imran Khan’s relentless and rowdy posturing. Will this term be remembered for the PTI dharnas, just as Zardari’s is for now-retired chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry’s constant bullying and interference?

Imran Khan has been leading street agitations for so long that he probably no longer remembers the long list of things he is against. But while the target may change, our kaptaan is out there, pulling the trigger, regardless of whom he’s shooting at.

One thing he has been consistent about is his belief that he has been cheated out of his God-given right to run the country. Not a day passes without him fulminating against the government for not handing him the keys to the Prime Minister’s House. And it goes without saying that his adoring followers are equally convinced that as soon as their beloved leader is in power, rivers of milk and honey — not to mention the finest fermented grape juice — will start flowing across the country.

Well, I say amen to that. But it ain’t happening, folks, so get your head around it. Or better still, wait till 2018 to get another shot at the prize. But please stop sucking all the oxygen out of politics with your 24/7 hysterics. TV chat show hosts could help by not giving these agitators so much airtime. But that won’t happen either as noisy allegations boost viewing numbers and ad revenues.

What the by-elections in Lahore’s NA-122 and Okara’s NA-144 constituencies taught us was that money talks and BS walks. Despite the relentless focus on the Election Commission’s dismal performance, the legal spending limit on a National Assembly seat of Rs1.5 million was brazenly violated by both parties. Despite the staggering amounts splashed out, there wasn’t a squeak out of the ECP.

Will Imran Khan sit quietly or continue his quest for instant power?

So what now for the PTI? Will the Great Khan sit quietly in his Bani Gala mansion and lick his wounds, or will he continue his unrelenting quest for instant power? No prizes for guessing the right answer.

The frustration at not wielding absolute power can be seen bubbling just below the surface as we watch Imran Khan’s contorted face, furiously bellowing charges and insults at all those perceived to be blocking his path. There are times I fear his blood pressure might be approaching dangerous levels. We should all be glad that he takes good care of his health.

Judging from recent disclosures, it would appear that Imran Khan is not too choosy about how he attains the top slot. I hope I’m wrong, but a little help from the boys would probably not be rejected.

The long dharna in Islamabad last year had all the fingerprints of covert support. The fact that it fizzled out shows that the present leadership of the army is not interested in taking sides in the ongoing power struggle.

The question to ask is how things would change if Imran Khan were to somehow win power. Not too much, judging from the performance of the PTI-led coalition government in KP. The harsh reality is that whoever is in power, it’s the same creaky, corrupt bureaucracy that is asked to transform grandiose plans into reality.

Remember that our civil service is the product of a rotten educational system and colonial-era rules and regulations. Speed and transparency are alien to its ethos. To expect it to deliver on good governance is to ignore reality.

And yet as the Punjab government has shown, the system can deliver to an extent if pushed by a tough chief executive. This is the province Imran Khan needs to wrench from the PML-N’s grasp if he is to achieve his dream. To do so, one way would be to demonstrate that the PTI is as good as governing as it is at agitating. Voters in NA-122 were clearly unconvinced.

And so the war of attrition will grind on. Imran Khan will hammer away at the government and repeat his rigging charges in an attempt to destabilise and delegitimise it.

But while this might boost his chances, it will do little for the people. Just as Iftikhar Chaudhry never allowed the PPP government to settle down to govern seriously — if it were indeed capable of doing so — Imran Khan won’t let Nawaz Sharif get on with his job.

All this means more turmoil at a time the country needs stability. But when you are sitting by your swimming pool in Bani Gala, the country’s problems are a very long way away.

If all you want is power, everything else is subordinate to your ambition. So you continue shaking things up, hoping that one day, the golden apple will fall into your hands.

irfan.husain@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, October 17th , 2015

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