“Youngsters” is probably not the best way to describe whom you want to form your future leadership. Skilled middle management being promoted on merit would be whom, IMHO, we would hope get recognized and promoted. I have hopes for Shehryar Afridi. He seems to have good repore with the people, and with some more experience over the course of the next 5 years he could move into a viable candidate for one of the top jobs. Although local politics will dictate his prospects along the way as well.
Who we need now is not an ideologue but a pragmatic manager, that knows all the players and can keep the economic development going. A Deng Xioping figure. IMHO, that is SMQ. With a person like SMQ at the helm, PTI can continue to govern and attract a more technocratic crowd to help him secure deals in this changing global landscape.
Imran Khan could preside as President of the party, still guiding the party from the sidelines, building up the junior cadres, but with SMQ in charge, the day to day operations of governance will be separate from the party work.
Also, we need to see this transition, away from a party formed around a person or their family, to one based on a platform. Imran Khan can have more lasting impact once out of office, if he builds up party discipline and the institution of meritocratic performance based promotion. This will ensure the older generation are just transitional figures and once their time comes, they will have to hand over power to the next generation.
