PTI – A Corporation, A Pressure Group or A Political Party

Speculations on the motives of PTI’s sit-in, marches, rallies and above all, its decision to evacuate D chowk are still in the air however make, mindset and ideology of the PTI is something that remained untouched from the modest beginning.

Their back-to-streets-threat is still on the cards however to reach the answer as to how this tug of war between PML-N and PTI would end we need to identify PTI’s method of getting things done as the war was initiated by the PTI which is a new ‘opposition’ on the floor. We should rather try to understand if the PTI is a political party, a pressure group or a corporation.

Let’s see how books define these three types of a group of the people;

Pressure Group
An interested group that endeavors to influence public policy and especially governmental legislation, regarding its particular concerns and priorities. (Oxford Dictionary)

Political Party
A political party is a group of people who share the same ideas about the way the country should be governed. (technologystuden.com)

Corporation/Business Organization
A form of business operation that declares the business as a separate, legal entity guided by a group of officers known as the board of directors. (entrepreneurship.com)

Following the given definitions, it will be difficult to park PTI into any particular slot. PTI is somehow a combination of all three but indeed a master of none.

 Kaptan’s Youth that makes PTI a party

PTI is a party that enjoys a reasonable representation of educated people. There is a long list of corporate employees that supports her at all levels and by all means. They are vocal about Kaptan’s moves. The PTI has a strong backing of an emotional young generation who knows almost nothing about the constitution, the political history of Pakistan and the background of any political leaders. Their firsthand knowledge comes through facebook and twitter. Their entire conversation is usually an extension to (any of) Kaptan’s ‘yesternight’s speech. They listen to Kaptan only and share with others without verifying any of the information. A common quality of these two genres (the corporate employees & PTI youth) is, they tell, they speak, they shout but they do not listen to the argument. They are strong believers of, “I am wise & others are otherwise”. Patience part is missing altogether which is an integral part of any political mindset. The PTI has a strong representation of women as well however it contains same details.

About the mature leadership or the followership of PTI, it is evident that excluding Kaptan and Asad Umar, all of the container-fellows were old and rejected leaders who have supported Bhuttos, Sharifs & dictators when they were at boom. Interestingly, PTI voters are not looking up to them even. They believe that Kaptan is the only hope and he will do the magic ‘somehow’ as soon as he gets into the power. But Kaptan is not the whole party.

On the other hand, a long list of first-time voters is supporting Kaptan which is all okay however they are not ready to believe that the candidate they vote for can even lose. Interestingly, they do not know much about the electoral process (of Pakistan and any other country), geography of their own constituency, limitations and strengths of political leaders, democracy as a system and dictatorship as a power. They believe Sharif is the only reason of everything that does not go their way and whoever supports him is Pakistan’s enemy.

It is a generic analysis of PTI supporters. Why it turns out to be universal, the answer is simple. Their leadership believes the same.

The PTI is a Corporation or a Political Party

Except an-always-pro-establishment-politician Shah Mehmood Qureshi, none of the PTI’s top ranked leadership has been exposed to the real politics. Most of them have never fought for any district council election. They do not have exposure to the electoral gimmicks. And when we say electoral gimmicks, they ridicule politics although including representative of corporate class in PTI, the ex-CEO of Engro group Mr. Asad Umar, head of board of directors has also been part of the team that used marketing gimmicks for better sales in his previous organization.

Not analyzing a market and going out for sale has never been a good idea for corporations however that is what exactly PTI leadership is doing right now. They have not tried to understand ‘Changed Pakistan’s’ political maturity. With recent march/sit-in, they could not satisfy their supporters especially from the people of urban and rural areas of D.G Khan, Vehari, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Multan, Sialkot, Narowal, Gujrat, Wazirabad, Gujranwala, Sargodha, Faisalabad, and many other cities. The areas I have recently been to (as a part of a corporation).

PTI leadership could not understand that people of Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi can enjoy a live concert and call it an innovative idea but people of above mentioned areas never appreciate it as it is against their values. Interestingly, they were not really much into local leadership of PML-N but they were all up for Nawaz Sharif. They not only ridiculed Kaptan but believed that he would harm Pakistan with his abusive language and aggressive behavior. They were not political workers, they were voters.

These voters are potential marchers on one call of their leader and unlike IK’s burger class followers, they can face any shelling or tough days for their leader’s cause.

Kaptan’s corporate and burger class would be with him as long as things remain normal. They would not come out to resist as they already believe that system is corrupted and they have an-always open offer to fly abroad. Facing the gas shelling would always remain an unwanted luxury for them. Above all, expecting them to be a resistant to status-quo is not more than living in a fool’s paradise. Visit any corporation, they work in and ask how many times they spoke against status-quo and if they want to enjoy the same what their seniors have already done or not. Most of the corporations operating in Pakistan have “Whistle Blowing Policy”. Just ask them how many of the sit-in participants blow whistle at their offices and put their lavish jobs on stake. And how many of them send ‘anonymous’ emails to the HR which does not really make any difference but work as a catharsis only. Those who could not blow whistle at any point of time to save their jobs would really be blowing whistle in the real world?

Moreover, corporate sector has a strong “appraisal system” which gives unmatched power to the people managers who have mastered the art of office politics. They know how exactly they need to manipulate the facts and bring their ‘favorites’ on driving seat. They face it everyday or at least once in an year and put their subordinates into this very trouble. Would those ‘retired CEOs’ and corporate people managers really be able to change their habit especially those who ‘enjoy’ the status of being center of attraction and chose ‘not’ to laugh at particular jokes of subordinates.

They somehow are unable to understand the difference between leading a corporation and leading a political party. You’ll find most of them giving casual statements about their counterparts and fellow leaders of other political parties. There is a difference between giving casual statements in the presence of subordinates at smoking zone and giving political statements in the presence of national media. These corporate masterminds are still struggling. They are unable to understand that a political worker/voter’s psyche is quite different from the subordinates’. A people manager enjoys authority but a political leader enjoys influence and there is a difference between these two. PTI leadership need to understand this reality.

"CAP Model of Change" and PTI

The PTI has successfully implemented “CAP Model of Change” before, during and after elections through their media campaigns and Tabdili Razakar. PTI’s management has followed the checklist of “Change Acceleration Process”. They led the change, created a shared need, shaped a vision and mobilized commitment however they forgot to implement few extremely important steps of real change which include, “Monitoring Progress and Making Change Last. PTI corporates dealt their political party as a corporation. They did not evaluate and understand ground realities of regional politics of all four provinces. They focused on Punjab but forgot to focus on rural areas and especially those urban areas where first generation of rural areas has started living just 20 years ago and they still carry same old values of being polite to the elders and respecting the opponent. PTI has lost its respect in those areas too. PTI’s corporates must try to visit those areas and meet them personally. A market survey with a smart set of questions, third party cost-effective ‘system’ and a pulse report by immediate reportees with a bossy attitude will not really work. Cost benefit analysis and hourly reports would not work at grass root level. They need to understand the system they are following and the real time problems of their people which is something beyond cost-effectiveness and revenue generation.

In a corporation, HODs take people as employees/subordinates and the upper layer maintains a professional distance with them to get things done effectively as strategy is ‘their’ piece of cake and implementation is of working class’. They plan and execute plans well as they have bell-curve system, appraisal system and a strong competitive environment where everyone is pushed to work according to organizations’ needs otherwise they will be cornered or fired whereas in a political party, there are workers, not subordinates. They have no fear of the “strategic decision makers’ appraisal system”. They would rather “fire” the upper layer if it does not work. They won’t idealize “the attitude” but the friendliness.

To improve further and understand local politics, PTI must scientifically work on the methods of PPP and PML-N. These two parties have a strong standing at grass root level as well as in establishment. They know as to how they should talk to the public and to negotiate with the establishment. It does not essentially mean that the PTI should give up their ideology and should start following their ‘enemies’ footprints but if they can shake hand with ‘once’ enemy MQM then they can at least make an effort to understand Pakistan’s strongest parties’ political method, even to counter it. Hating would not serve the purpose, it would rather harm them. Even their corrupt politicians know how and where to say and what. They know what may hurt their voters and what would give them a lifeline. To change a system, you must understand it. And that is what is missing with the PTI and hindering it from becoming a true political party of Pakistan. Kaptan left his people at Gujranwala in Azadi march and left for Islamabad and then left them at ‘D chowk’ for a better night at Bani-Gala. Both the actions are against the psyche of the voters however it worked for some time because the sit-in was done at Islamabad and not in Sialkot or Gujranwala. Even if PTI is closer to the establishment, it is far and away from their voters. They must not forget that the Baaghi has done the damage already and others have always been dependent on their parties even in their good old days. They can do no well to the PTI. The PTI needs to understand if not follow PPP & PML-N model to be a true political party.

The PTI is a Pressure Group

From day one, Imran has been interested in developing a pressure group which would always remain in the opposition and would do issue-based politics. He invited Abdus Sattar Eidhi, Anwar Kazmi (right hand of Edhi) and Ansar Burni for the same purpose in 1995-96 (but they refused). Imran idealized pressure groups. He was of the opinion that he and his party should always pressurize the government to resolve specific issues to take the country to the next level and once the issue is resolved, they should take up with another. And the chain continues until major issues of the country are resolved.

From rigging case, electricity rates, power plants, dams, health, education, Thar, IDPs, Peshawar, Karachi & Lahore killings to civil disobedience the PTI has always been an issues-oriented party. Although all of the issues have been dealt in much a biased way but they kept on highlighting issues from the modest beginning. When they call it a ‘real opposition’, they mean it a ‘real pressure group’ who could never let the government keep its attention from the issue they highlighted and it would not be the way Anna Hazaray has been doing it. Problem with the current scenarios is; they have picked so many issues and made some unrealistic targets which made things worse for them however with their philosophy they will remain a ‘real pressure group’ and would hardly be able to become a ‘real government’.

The article has been published in "Daily Pakistan Times"