The return of political rallies

It is heartening to see back to back public rallies being held across Pakistan by major political parties where vociferous speakers address a charged crowd amid deafening chants of slogans. Yes, the election time is around the corner. 

The return of public rallies in our cities is a good sign. 

On the rallies front, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) is ahead of its opponents. 

The party convenes a public meeting anywhere in Pakistan at will; it has demonstrated its power to pull crowds. 

In recent weeks, the PTI has successfully held parties in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and South Punjab. 

The Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) has competed against the PTI by pitching its young leader Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari in public rallies. The scion of Bhutto-Zardari family has shown his power to attract people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Sindh. 

The ruling Pakistan Muslim-N (PML-N) was missing from the scene because of its leaders’ engagements in London where Kalsoom Nawaz is under treatment and in Pakistani courts, where the whole Nawaz Sharif family faces a number of cases. The party has also made a plan to make its comeback to the public through a public rally in its stronghold Abbottabad on November 12. 

In Karachi, Farooq Sattar-led Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM), and its rival, Pak Sarzameen Party, and other Sindhi nationalist parties make their presence felt with their occasional rallies and marches. 

Old time Jamaat-i-Islami is always holding gatherings here and there.

The comeback of political rallies signifies the security situation of the country. The colour of rallies was missing from the last 2013 general elections. Only right-wing parties had the freedom to hold rallies, whereas the leadership of the PPP, Awami National Party, MQM had literally been forced to hole up in bunkers for safety. Several leaders of these parties fell prey to suicide bombing and targeted attacks by militants. Even the parties allowed to hold rallies had to make extra security arrangements. 

A rally without any eventuality used to be considered an achievement.

As leaders are back to public address system and rostrum, one thing noticeable, however, is the lack of substance from leaders’ speeches. 

A cursory examination of Imran Khan’s speeches shows that he has lost ideas to share with the public. He says to a rally whatever he has been saying for years: the corruption of previous governments. 

Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari finds comfort in repeating his family’s and party’s sacrifices for democracy. 

It is not difficult to predict what Nawaz Sharif will say in his address to the Abbottabad rally: “We've built motorways; we will build more motorways”. Cheers!

In healthy, established democratic societies, public rallies are the venue for parties to announce their agenda, manifesto and to win public support for their electoral programmes. Occasionally, as it is fair in politics, parties brag about their past achievements and pulverize their opponents, but more focus is (or should be) on their future agenda.

It is high time that the opportunities like public rallies are not wasted in attacking opponents and repeating the political rhetoric. 

The rally audience at large deserves a batter content from their leaders. The rallies should be used to announce parties’ manifestoes and educate the participants about the importance of the policies. When the public elects a party on the basis of its manifesto, a true democracy will emerge.

And this is the only way to defeat political turmoil, we are always into.