The Semiotics of Political Leadership

The review of literature reveals a considerable dearth in the examination of leadership factors within the context of Politics and Governance. This chapter addresses the identified lacuna by adopting the symbolic interactionist lens with specific emphasis upon the leader as an “actor”, to examine the symbolic nature of Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi’s political leadership as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan and Chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf , Pakistan’s Movement for Justice (PTI) party. It is argued that the symbolic embodiment of the ontological validation for the existence of Imran Khan’s “political leadership” is unveiled through the dialogical-dialectical relationship between his person within the capacity of a political leader and his followers as a “narrative”. The findings concur that Imran Khan’s political leadership is symbolised as a transformative dialogical process, characterised by the attainment of a sense of “critical consciousness” in his followers.