PTI Secretary General shares his concern about the Long March

A message to the People's Resistance network, Dr, Arif Alvi, the Secretary General of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf shares his concerns about the sudden Anti-Climax of the Long March


Dear Friends,

The long March ended with some disappointment, almost like the famous cliché from Macbeth 'Full of sound and fury; Signifying.... Nothing'

What a disappointment. I was on a TV channel for 4 hours, and I said there are 3 demands (oust Mush and PCO judges, restore Pre Nov 3 judiciary) and few very clear outcomes of the Long March. My conclusion was simple:

1. The organizers should not make people stay for long beyond the morning (the crowd would erode) e.g Hizbollah's rally surrounding the parliament in Beirut eroded in a few days. They had food water etc. and were much more organized. (Orange and Purple revolution succeded because they wanted to change the government).
2. The lawyers etc should make fiery speeches and say that as the NA would be in session tomorrow show your strength to the Parliamentarians. 'Tomorrow we will table the bill for restoration of the judiciary, some of you must stay to ensure and take receipt (oratory), then go home and we will fight the battle in parliament, and we will call upon you for 'civil disobedience'.
3. Give an ultimatum to the Government of ten days (15-20 or whatever), and say that if the judiciary is not restored and PCO judges out, there will be no next march but we will paralyse the government and gherao the parliamentarians.
4. Give a timeline and say if Musharraf does not go by the month of July we will bring the 'Phansi ka phanda' to Islamabad and drag him out.

All the above would have been satisfying to the people (though some would have been rhetoric, it would have kept spirits high). What should have been a historic day is mere history now. Some rising stars turned out to be only shooting stars (mere asteroids).

I talked to lawyer leaders and said that I could have more easily accepted the set back to my party, but it is more difficult to accept the setback to civil society. I have spent 12 years enticing civil society and people to come forward and play their role, and this incident is a setback. Most politicians have disappointed the people who thought that this time some
leaders would emerge with a spine. Little did they realize that it may not come true yet.

However there is a silver lining. Now we know the potential of the people of Pakistan, the Civil Society, the Lawyers and of some politicians who still are still steadfast to the cause.

Dr Arif Alvi
Secretary General
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf