PM does not have a narrative

A political narrative is a story and the purpose of a story is to “shape fact and impact on understandings of reality.” A political story is usually an account of “imaginary people and events”. A political narrative provides a ‘value’. Yes, a political narrative has nothing to do with the truth.

In 2018, Imran Khan had a story to tell — and he is a master storyteller. Back then, his story was all about ‘corruption by politicians’. Imran Khan’s story was that corruption was the cause of all problems in Pakistan. And that Imran Khan will get rid of corruption, bring back $200 billion and Pakistanis will live happily thereafter. This was a political story of ‘imaginary people and events’. But this was a political narrative that provided ‘value’ to the audience — a ready-made solution to all of their problems. Remember, a political narrative has nothing to do with the truth.

In 2018, Transparency International’s (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) ranked Pakistan at 117th out of 180 countries. In 2019, Pakistan’s ranking dropped to 120th. In 2020, Pakistan’s ranking dropped further to 124th. In 2021, Pakistan’s ranking worsened to a low of 140th. Deutsche Welle, the German state-owned international broadcaster, said, “The perception of corruption in Pakistan has worsened since Imran Khan came to power in 2018,” adding that “Before coming to power in 2018, Khan, a populist politician, regularly cited TI’s CPI as an ‘evidence’ to malign his political opponents, mainly former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.”

In 2022, Imran Khan has a new story to tell — and he is a master storyteller. The anti-corruption narrative is now on the back-burner. There’s no talk of the $200 billion that was to be brought back. There’s no talk about economic performance over 2018-2022. There’s no talk about the quality of governance over 2018-2022. The new narrative is the American conspiracy that brought down the PTI government. Remember, a political narrative has nothing to do with the truth. But this new story provides ‘value’ to the audience — America is the cause of all our problems and Imran Khan will get rid of America. The new story is that we need ‘independence from America’.

In 2018, our external debt was $95 billion. Over the past 4 years, the PTI government has added $40 billion worth of additional external debt and we now owe $135 billion to the IMF, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Paris Club and a whole host of commercial lenders. The fact is that the PTI government has made us a lot more dependent on America and its allied financial institutions than we were ever before. The fact is ‘increased dependence on America’ and the story is ‘independence from America’.

PM Shehbaz Sharif, on the other hand, has no story to tell. PM Shehbaz Sharif has no counter-narrative either. Yes, he is tireless, determined and competent. But he has no story to tell. Ex-PM Imran Khan has stories. PM Shehbaz Sharif has a hundred projects. Ex-PM Imran Khan is playing with the ‘mind’. PM Shehbaz Sharif thinks ‘matter’ will win. PM Shehbaz Sharif is putting up his set of administrative skills on display. Ex-PM Imran Khan is selling stories with no truth in them. Was it Mark Twain who said, “A lie can travel around the world and back again while the truth is lacing up its boots?”