Is popularity enough to govern?

Once again Pakistan is facing political turmoil. Though every legal point is being discussed in media- regarding the Supreme Court’s decision & coming scenario, the most basic & crucial point has been overlooked.

Being a popular leader is not enough to handle matters of the state. It requires statesmanship. The ability to carry not only the party members along but also other political parties & stakeholders to achieve economic goals.

Statesmanship is political leadership that combines power and prudence to realize the common good. (Coats, Statesmanship; Overeem, “Not Always at the Helm.”)

“I Divorce You… Your Ex-Wife”: Dubai Princess Dumps Husband In Insta Post

NDMA warns of possible glacial lake outburst floods in mountainous regions of KP, GB

Ishaq Dar directs HC in Dhaka to ensure safety of Pakistanis

Leadership is the achievement of goals through the guidance of human assistants. A person who effectively organizes their team to reach specific objectives is considered a leader. A truly great leader consistently accomplishes this over time and across diverse situations.

Focusing on wasting energy in confrontations at every level horizontally & vertically, makes for aa singularly bad leader. No matter how popular. We might need to distinguish between “good populism” and “bad populism.”

Indulgence by Mr Imran Khan in container politics, before he was ushered in as Prime Minister & during, he was the Prime Minister reflect poorly on his abilities as popular leader with statesmanship abilities.

For more such opinions & blogs, click here.

The grouse is with the name callings, refusal to work with others elected as a team. Moreover, Khan was unable to revive the economy over three and a half years and lost the support of the Army. In this situation, his only option to garner public sympathy was to stir up anti-US sentiments, which he did effectively.

This does not mean to say the current set up has performed wonders, the plight of the common man is pathetic in face of spiraling inflation.

These are once again, challenging times for Pakistan.

The writer is a lawyer, academic and political analyst. She has authored a book titled ‘A Comparative Analysis of Media & Media Laws in Pakistan.’ She can be contacted at: yasmeenali62@gmail.com and tweets at @yasmeen_9