A colour piece

Published October 30, 2015
The writer is Dawn’s resident editor in Lahore.
The writer is Dawn’s resident editor in Lahore.

CAN party colours paint wrong impressions of who dominates politics at a particular time? Those who have followed the fortunes of the PML-N over all these years would say that the shades thrown up by an election campaign can create illusions that are not in sync with voters’ likes and dislikes. The conclusion holds true for Punjab in particular.

Back in the run-up to the general election in 1988 — since that happened to be a kind of resumption point in our national politics — one aspect to be debated was whether the PPP would get as many votes as the flags hoisted all over Punjab and beyond indicated. It was billed as a new beginning, and therefore not everyone was too sure whether the oppressed that the PPP then claimed to represent had fully shrugged off the fears and inhibitions that the regime had long imposed on them.

Thus according to one calculation, the voiceless were expected to speak up in numbers larger than those dictated by the red, green and black thickly spread on the horizon — threatening to drown the Muslim League’s comparatively much less animated green. Soon the now famous and very potent PML election-day machine was in action. In various parts of the province, especially in the case of voting for the Punjab Assembly, the PML victory was a bit of a surprise given the flashy, almost dominating tri-coloured PPP presence in the neighbourhood.


It is the PTI which to many appears to dominate in the battle of colours in Lahore and some other parts of Punjab.


The good boys of politics had rather quietly found a way of going around the boisterous jiyala crowd. This was vividly reflected in the party colours and the naughty, edgy noises that characterised the PPP camp, never mind whether these cultural overtures led to any substantial tangible gains in the lives of the people.

In the worst criticism of those times, when the PPP was yet to be known in the province as a synonym for corruption, jiyalas were projected as being too busy in fun-making. They were thought to be too engrossed in the cultural, showy part of it to be taken up by the serious task of ferrying the voters to the polling booths twice in the space of three days. There was plenty of culture in the PPP’s gait but the party was repeatedly and without remedy called out for being lacking plenty in polls-day purpose.

More than a quarter of a century later, it is the PTI which to many appears to dominate in the battle of colours in Lahore and some other parts of Punjab.

A deeper probe will bring out just how strong and ready the PML-N is to fight the Imran Khan splash of green and red. The PML-N is deceptively subdued, and one reason for it is the comparatively sombre, standard hues it still chooses to dress itself in. Whereas others might be interested in trotting out their charming exuberant princes in the battle for power, as the incumbent PML-N and its sharifs must behave like the kings who are as firmly in the saddle as they have ever been. 

In all its shine and glow and its frequent celebrations of achievements it is the single-tone sober public identity that has served the party well, even when it is as prone to a rush of crimson red as any other outfit jealously safeguarding its long hold on power. Blood has been spilled during the campaign for the current local government election in Lahore and there have been clashes in other parts of the province. But away from these ugly scenes which the PML-N leadership would be forever inclined to blame on the junior cadres of the party, the party elders would want to maintain the same old sincere and earnest appearance of a grownup that has helped it in so many fights against the prank-happy and childish PPP. The PML-N is most certainly for an adult audience.

The quiet green of the Pakistani flag and the flag of the All India Muslim League is a sign of confidence and incumbency. It symbolises the original ideology and a permanent establishment that the PML-N is keen to flaunt without betraying any visible signs of nervousness, let alone showing symptoms of worry in the toughest of contests.

The PTI is definitely the more excited and excitable contestant, whereas the groupings within the PML-N and in some instances the PTI are also contributing their bit to liven up the competition, which is going to be a close one in many areas of Punjab. In Faisalabad for example, it is the rebellion by Chaudhry Sher Ali, a close Sharif relative, that has raised expectations of the ever-dismissive Rana Sanaullah finally finding someone who can match him shout for shout. The voice of one Sher was loud enough to be heard over and above the rippling sound generated by the 18 jalsas Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar addressed in Faisalabad in a single day.

There are a large number of independents who are adding to the chorus, most encouraged by the small size of their constituencies and their own perceptions of just how well known they are in their localities. They are spurred on, as is so often the case in a localised election, by their own estimates of what will be a winning score in a union council consisting of 15000-odd votes, or in a ward, which is one-sixth of a union council.

The units are small enough for the contenders to think about ways to secure biradari support and concentrate on not losing the personal vote bank gathered through everyday routine.

The fetish with the particular lobbying technique where groups of workers belonging to this political party or that are tied to rented chairs for long hours at strategic places in a ward remains. The PTI as the challenger might have been successful in spraying around the green and red indicating that declaration was intent. The jury is, however, still out on whether it is cheeky enough to be an alternative to the boring incumbent.

The writer is Dawn’s resident editor in Lahore.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2015

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