Pakistan is caught in the eye of political storm again, this time its prime minister facing the threat of being overthrown, cornered in the national assembly by a joint Opposition led by PML(N) and PPP together with the support of small provincial parties. With clouds of defeat looming over Imran Khan, he seems to be struggling like a drowning man trying to catch every straw to stay alive. In this desperation for survival, he has lost sight of both local and global perspectives. Instead, he is using his energy to rescue his sinking ship to shore.
So far, in 74 years of the country’s independence, no elected prime minister has completed the full term of five years. It seems Imran Khan is going to meet the same fate. Pakistan, like so many other Islamic countries, has had a chequered tryst with democracy right from the day of its independence. Military generals and feudal landlords-turned-politicians have been taking turns in ruling this country to fulfil their own personal coffers, thus ruining the image of this country as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Imran Khan’s arrival on the political scene was seen as a ray of hope for restoration of lost democratic credentials by many political pundits, but that glimmer of hope has proven to be short-lived as he nears his political death like his predecessors.
Unlike his forerunners, Imran Khan has no roots in any political dynasty. He had a bumpy ride in politics unlike dynasts who parachute from the top and it took him 24 years of struggle in grassroots politics to become the de facto head of state. Before that he had earned his fame through cricket and philanthropy. Leaving his apolitical life aside, let’s try to connect the dots that led him to this situation.
Imran Khan’s party PTI emerged as a third front in a country dominated by two parties, PML(N) and PPP. PTI made inroads into the country’s power politics after the 2013 elections. From 2013 to 2018 PTI had been playing role of the main opposition party against ruling PML (N) party led by Nawaz Sharif. During PTI’S tenure as opposition leader, they succeeded in mobilising the support of voters, especially the youth of the country, through dharna and jalsa politics, to create an anti-incumbency narrative of corruption against the ruling party.
With the early outset of Nawaz Sharif much before the completion of his tenure after Panama Paper leaks exposed his offshore accounts, Imran Khan could sniff his chance of becoming the PM of Pakistan. In 2018 general elections, his party emerged as the single largest party and claimed to form the government. With the help of regional allies and independent MNAs, Imran became the country’s PM.
After his appointment as PM, people expected him to weed out corruption from the country in ninety days, as he had claimed, but he couldn’t fulfil his poll promise. Instead, the reverse started unfolding in his three-and-half year tenure so far. His political rivals Nawaz Sharif, Zardari and Maulana Fazlur Rahman, those he had labelled as corrupt unpardonable white-collar criminals, are still enjoying freedom, although state institutions like NAB and FIA have been trying to put them behind the bars, but so far they have failed to do so. Ex-PM Nawaz Sharif managed to evade the wrath of law for his proven corruption cases through the deception of bad health and he is currently enjoying the street foods of London and guiding his rank and file just like former MQM chief Altaf Hussain from London, while ex-president Zardari with his coterie is using his money and muscle to bargain and buy enough MNAs through horse trading to send Imran packing.
Imran Khan who once advocated for economic independence of Pakistan from the clutches of IMF and developed countries has himself succumbed to the same begging syndrome. Call it his helplessness, but he has been left with no other option but to follow the same route to rescue his country from economic slumber as inflation is creeping fast and value of money has gone down to record lows compare to the dollar, thus giving his rivals an opportunity to justify their call of ousting him from power.
The worst enemy of democracy in Pakistan has been the Army. About Pakistan it’s said that leaders are not elected but selected by the establishment, which is why Imran had to face barbs of being called a “selected PM” by the Opposition. In global politics it’s often said about Pakistan that in other countries the state has an army while in Pakistan the army has a state. Imran Khan has not been in good terms with army’s COAS after the Afghan fiasco. It’s being rumoured that he has fallen out with army generals. The question of a No Confidence motion would not have arisen if the army had been maintaining a neutral status. Now, with even party loyalists deserting PTI, it seems certain that Imran Khan’s days are numbered.
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MALIK JAVID