It isn’t so much that Imran tried to ingratiate himself with the hoi polloi with fake talk about simplicity and related silliness, but that Imran will only engage the people, the media — everyone — on his terms. Put all of that together and it’s no surprise it’s been a rough start so far.But is any of it a surprise?Imran is one of the more transparent politicians we’ve ever had. The only real skill on display so far has been the chap who has jetted around to bring on board allies and independents. But even in an age of pretence, Imran will only be able to hide so long that he wants to be PM more than he wants to fix things. Just weeks before the election, Imran was caught in a media maelstrom for jetting off abroad with a friend who may or may not have had his paperwork in order. Family and honour require some rectification and recompense.  

No apology, no comment, no reversal. The answer is obvious.Broadly, there’s two kinds: the extremely wealthy and those steeped in power politics.So if everything is manufactured and fake, you may as well ride it out.So back to the original question: what if, just what if, Imran wants to be PM more than he wants to fix things?That they had done zero preparation is obvious enough. But it rarely stops at that. You probably don’t need to do much sifting.The helicopter stuff is already fading — as it always would.At a minimum, the gent’s ego has been bruised.By arrangement with Dawn. What has really been signalled is access: manage the gent’s idiosyncrasies and ego because a satisfied gent is a man who can get work done for you. Imran doesn’t give a rat’s behind about what TV says or social media obsesses over: knowing how to use the media cultivates a healthy contempt for it.You can guess some of the reasons why. Or he can leave us to suffer everything amped up to 10 for the next five years.But that doesn’t have to be an insurmountable problem: pick the right people and you’re halfway to being a saviour. The other thing may be a little more hidden. As a principal beneficiary of the manufactured realities of TV, Imran may believe that everything he sees, reads or hears in the media is driven by an agenda.But sift through even a bit of the mountain of public statements and opinions and comments that Imran has made over the decades and try and find two things: an interest in how things work and an appetite for any level of detail. No agents of change there. But that isn’t really the story. Move on, then, to sifting through the people Imran has surrounded himself with over the years, especially in more recent times.But the stakes were somewhat higher in another recent incident and Imran showed the same defiance and contemptuous disregard. Simplifying politics, good versus evil, everything a question of will and belief, a great future awaits if only the right leadership has control — that’s the stuff of insurgents, outside politics.So many rabbits to chase after, so much to bite into, but the muzzle and the leash prevail for now, so on to lesser things.A policeman suffering humiliation and a nobody CM taking a few hits in the media is par for the course — neither can really object because it comes with the territory. Beyond that it’s just been uncertainty and unsteadiness, in naming a Cabinet, in making provincial picks, in setting an agenda.The pounding that is being taken by some now is a down payment on favours that may be called in later.There will be calmer patches ahead: Imran is bestride a system that manifestly favours him and opposes his rivals.  

He may not even be that wrong. It’s transparently obvious but in this age of pretence, let’s start with a bit of pretence:What if — just what if — Imran wanted to be PM more than he wanted to fix things?The shenanigans of the plastic injection molding machine price week are easy enough to explain. Good or bad, tawdry or sensational, there’s more out there about Imran, in story, legend and rumour, than most folk need or would like to know. Media outrage will burn itself out quickly enough and if it doesn’t, the problem and the sponsors lie elsewhere and that requires different handling.Imran can make some tweaks and adjustments now. He’s given more interviews and made himself more available to the media than any other first-tier pol around today, all of them having lengthier political careers than Imran.  

But the same contempt shone through. Nothing surprising in any of it, but only if you want to and know where to look. But that hyper visibility is also instructive.The helicopter faux pas is defiance after a minor transgression when the stakes are minimal — it’s not like someone’s going to take away his prime ministership, or even his heli rides, for being preachy and insincere.The fierce pounding he took then made no sense to suffer without some quick damage control.Heck, we — allegedly — know more about his personal life than the lives of many of our friends and relatives. There was an election to be fought and won and even if Imran knew he’d be helped across the finish line, the pounding he was taking on TV and in social media was an unnecessary distraction.The populist rhetoric is fine.