LAHORE: Prime Minister Imran Khan’s statement on U-turns has generated a debate in political circles, with the opposition coming down heavily on what it called ‘a symbol of weak character’ and members of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) robustly defending their leader’s remarks.

On Friday, in an interaction with the media at the PM House, Prime Minister Khan said that the real leader of a nation always made U-turns and changed his strategy depending on the situation and the need of the hour.

“The leader who does not do timely U-turns is not a real leader,” Mr Khan said, giving the example of the ‘failure of German leader Adolf Hitler and French military leader Napoleon Bonaparte in wars in Russia’.

“Both Hitler and Napoleon faced defeat as they did not change their strategies according to the situation and as a result, their armies were marooned in Russia,” PM Khan said, defending decisions that the opposition called U-turns.

Reactions range from outrage to jocularity

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Asif hit out at the premier, saying it was only a matter of time before he would backtrack on his ‘U-turn’ statement as well.

PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb tweeted: “(Imran Khan) Pakistan’s first official prime minister.” She also posted a screenshot of the statement by PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif suggesting that instead of a road sign, a picture of Imran Khan should be displayed at every U-turn.

Pak Sarzameen Party secretary general Raza Haroon tweeted that taking a U-turn was not a good characteristic for any leader. “Whatever one says or believes, ‘U-turn’ is definitely not a good characteristic for any leader, let alone be proud of. Serious misconception of leadership skills. One may need to adopt an alternate plan or path or strategy etc. ... but never #UTurn,” he wrote.

Speaking to reporters in Karachi, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah joked: “We have moved from U to W which comes after U. It’s now double U-turns.”

The PTI leadership, including President Dr Arif Alvi, has come forward to defend the party chairman.

“Decisions should be taken in accordance with the situation. I have taken U-turns on every step of the way in my life,” Dr Alvi told reporters in an informal talk.

Sindh Governor Imran Ismail said “one cannot become a leader without taking U-turns”, whereas Senator Faisal Javed tweeted that a U-turn was a form of “assessment, rating, estimation, ranking, weighing up, consideration, analysis”.

He added that it was crucial to have a proper evaluation of results and whether a U-turn was required. He said that there was a huge difference between a U-turn and a blatant lie.

Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid, however, expressed ignorance about Mr Khan’s statement. At a press conference in Lahore, the minister said that he did not know the context in which Prime Minister Khan made the U-turn statement.

Published in Dawn, November 18th, 2018