interview
http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews
‘It is the worst example of pre-poll rigging’
By Adnan Mahmood & Asha’ar Rehman
TNS: You have talked at length on the issues of education and justice. Are these two the most major issues that your party plans to raise in the forthcoming elections?
Imran Khan: Actually the major things that we will focus on will be mentioned in our manifesto. But yes, education and justice are the most crucial reforms to lay the foundations of a civilised society upon. Reforms are needed in all sectors but Pakistan can simply not progress without education.
TNS: Before the 1997 elections many people believed that your party was not ready for the elections. Do you think the party is now ready to contest the forthcoming elections?
IK: In a way they were correct because the party had no organisation then. But we did not contest those elections because we thought we would win, but because we wanted to bring corruption on the country’s political agenda. Before that corruption had not been an issue in elections. We thought that was the right time to make people aware that a corrupt government corrupted the entire system.
TNS: You have maintained that politicians cannot be held accountable through elections and there needs to be a system in place to hold them accountable. Why?
IK: What I have said is that our institutions are weak. They cannot hold our leaders accountable. These corrupt politicians say that the public will hold them accountable (through elections) because they know the public cannot do so. The public is a slave to the system of thana, katcheri and patwari because it fears political victimisation.
TNS: You have also said people cannot win elections without spending a lot of money, which they then have to recover through corrupt means while in government. Then how do your party candidates plan to go about it?
IK: Politicians that have been involved in constituency politics simply cannot contest elections without spending a huge amount and that is how they keep the common man out of politics. We on the other hand want to win on the basis of our public mobilisation campaign and the awareness that we create among the voters. There is only one precedent for such a campaign ever run in Pakistan, that of 1970. For a fact we cannot win without this mass campaign as we cannot compete with the existing candidates on their own wicket. We don’t have the money for that.
TNS: What are the chances of your party when there are allegations that there are hand-picked cronies of the government whose victory the administration will ensure?
IK: Unfortunately, the establishment has created a Godfather known as the Gujrat Mafia which is at the moment controlling the PML-Q. The most corrupt politicians have been absolved of all charges and have been included in the PML-Q. The effort that has gone into the making of the PML-Q is the worst example of pre-poll rigging in the country. It has never happened in the history of Pakistan that the entire establishment is working to force all constituency candidates to join a party. But we will contest these elections forcefully. We will give the people an independent choice so that people should know that not everyone is willing to sell his conscience for power. We will be fielding candidates in almost 70 per cent of the constituencies.
TNS: Is it true that you refused to join the pro-government National Alliance because of personality clashes?
IK: There was no personality clash. I never considered joining that alliance. There was never even a 1 per cent chance that I would ever join this alliance or the PML-Q. The problem was that the alliance included corrupt people and ours is a party that has made corruption an issue. I have had personal friendships with both Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto. I could have joined them easily. I didn’t because for me it was not a struggle for power.
TNS: You have said that good policies of the current government should be lauded. What steps or policies of the government are commendable in your opinion?
IK: Initially some of their steps were in the right direction. Like the establishment of local bodies. But unfortunately the way these nazims are being used to ensure the lota party’s victory now has put their impartiality in doubt. First they created a system, now they are themselves destroying it.
Also, the government has been able to bring in economic stability by introducing fiscal discipline. But even in the economic sector they have not been totally spot on. By accepting all of IMF conditions they have really crushed the poor and the rise in the electricity charges is an example. The rise in power charges in fact induces power theft. When people will not be able to afford electricity, they will have to steal it. The right way is to make the IMF understand that all they should be concerned with is a timely payment of the debt. If we can ensure that, there is no need to follow their directions to the exact. But our leaders are always ready to accept whatever they are told.
TNS: Until recently, you were praising the government steps. Now you speak out against all that it does. Does this pattern prove anything?
IK: If you read my statements over the past seven years or so, it would be clear that I have never compromised with any corrupt party or individual. I have just said that corruption is Pakistan’s number one problem. I have been saying for two and a half years that there is no across-the-board accountability in our country. I have been talking for this period against the IMF-sponsored policies. Now it was only natural for me to react against what is happening now. Look at my track record. I was the first person to introduce neutral umpires in cricket, so how was it possible for me not to protest against this sort of a fraud? I can support General Musharraf as long as I believe he is doing something good for the country, but when his policies begin to hurt the country, I will not support him.
TNS: Despite your appeal for the youngsters, it is said that your is not as liberal a party as some others, like the PPP. What is your response to this?
IK: It is important to realise that there are two types of liberals. One group is of those who are slaves of the western culture and because they are westernised, they call themselves liberals. They hold westernisation synonymous with modernisation. But they are actually not liberals and neither is this theory of theirs correct.
The other group is that of the real liberals, and this group included Quaid-i-Azam and Allama Iqbal. Being liberal actually entails a liberation of the mind. Allama Iqbal and the Quaid were true Muslim liberals because they saw Islam in its true perspective. The only thing that can stop the onslaught of fundamentalism is intellectual Islam.