Struggle for survival from Pakistan’s cricket star to prime minister
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan is fighting for his political survival as opposition political parties moved a no-confidence motion in parliament and the country’s powerful military withdrew support for his government.
Mr Khan, a former cricket-star-turned-politician, announced plans to gather one million supporters in Islamabad, appealed to the Supreme Court to disqualify lawmakers who split from his party and an American-influenced As part of the condemnation of its critics. Conspiracy.
But as calls for his resignation mount, critics and analysts say he has lost his majority in parliament and these measures are unlikely to change that.
“He rightly thinks the end may be near,” said Arif Rafiq, president of Vizier Consulting, a political risk advisory firm in New York. “And he’s a fighter. But it doesn’t look like he’ll have enough numbers to survive a motion of no confidence.”
Pakistan, the world’s second largest Muslim country, has been reluctant to be a key US partner in the campaign against terrorism. A nuclear-armed country that backs the Taliban government in neighboring Afghanistan has overtaken the United States under Mr Khan, adopting a strategic partnership with China and close ties with Russia.
But the political threats to Mr Khan are primarily domestic. Pakistan has been plagued by double-digit inflation, prompting widespread discontent and criticism that it has mismanaged the economy.
Furthermore, due to his attempt to put Lt Gen Faiz Hamid, a loyal ally and former spy chief, in charge of the army over the objections of top officials, he has lost the support of the army.
And as opposition parties take advantage of these weaknesses, Mr. Khan’s scorched-earth politics has left him few friends and little room for conversation. They have jailed most of the prominent opposition leaders at one point or another. They are now out on bail but Mr. Khan has threatened to lock them up again.
Parliament is expected to vote next week as it will, if it goes as expected, break Pakistan’s record not allowing a prime minister to serve a full five-year term. But Mr Khan’s heavy-handed tactics and the prospect of competing mass rallies in Islamabad this weekend have also raised fears of violence that could sabotage any democratic process.
The three major allied political parties that are part of the governing coalition have now indicated they may favor the opposition in a parliamentary vote. This will be enough to topple Mr Khan’s government.
Opposition leaders also claim they have the support of dozens of dissidents within Mr Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. Last week, his party was shaken by the defection of at least a dozen lawmakers who accused their leader of failing to tackle inflation.
“The ruling coalition has effectively lost a majority,” Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, a senator from the opposition Pakistan People’s Party, said in an interview. He said, ‘The army is also not showing interest in saving Imran Khan. The burden of economic mismanagement is enormous.”
Mr Khan was elected in 2018 as a nationalist who promised to fight corruption, get the country’s anemic economy back on track and maintain an independent, anti-American foreign policy. But apart from the last, he has struggled to fulfill those promises.
Pakistan’s economic problems are not entirely created by it. Inflation is a global problem due to supply chain problems related to the pandemic, as well as rising energy costs. He has blamed the previous government for the high foreign debt he inherited.
And in keeping with his audacious, self-righteous style, he has ridiculed critics who say otherwise.
“I am not here to check the prices of tomatoes and potatoes, but to build a nation,” he said at a rally in Hafizabad this month. He has accused the opposition of being “bought with looted money” and, to the delight of his supporters, referred to the three main opposition parties as “the three puppets” or “the three rats”.
But he has faltered with economic policy, changing his economic team several times during his first years in office. And while he was able to negotiate a $6 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund last year, he has acknowledged that not doing so three years ago was a mistake.
The IMF loan, the first $1 billion of which was agreed in November, came at the cost of painful economic reforms that have pushed up fuel and electricity prices. And the fact that the State Bank governor is a former IMF employee has fueled criticism that the IMF is now running the country.
“The government cannot batter every section of people for price hike and inflation on the pretext of Covid-19,” Khurram Dastagir Khan, an opposition member of parliament, said in an interview. “Back in August 2019, the inflation figure crossed 10 per cent. Double-digit inflation hasn’t come down since then.”
Critics have also accused Mr Khan of seeking political vendetta and members of his inner circle have been accused of corruption.
And if Mr Khan is able to elevate General Hamid, whom the opposition sees as Mr Khan’s political promoter, to the new army chief, opposition leaders fear further arrest and repression. He has accused General Hamid of manipulating the 2018 general elections in favor of Mr Khan, and fears he may do so again in the next election as army chief.
Mr. Khan and military officials have denied that the military played any role in the election, but the initial support of Mr. Khan’s military is widely believed to be a major reason for his coming to power.
The current army chief’s term ends in November, and opposition leaders fear Mr Khan may want to replace him with General Hamid.
Analysts say this is a far cry for the army and the crackdown could be the most important factor in the current political crisis. The military has a habit of shooting its own shots and has never accepted civilian leaders to interfere in its internal affairs.
The break between Mr Khan and the army first came to the fore last year, when Mr Khan opposed the army’s round of regular transfers and insisted that General Hamid remain as spy chief. Mr Khan lost that battle, and General Hamid was sent to a posting in Peshawar.
Latest on China: Key things to know
Visit of a UN official to China. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said China would allow him to visit the country and investigate the conditions there, a shocking turn after years of talks and stone-pelting by Beijing.
According to politicians close to the army, even the generals have expressed dissatisfaction with Mr. Khan’s shameful governance style and handling of the economy.
“For more than three years, Khan’s coalition government was supported by the military,” Mr Rafiq said. “Now the army has retreated. Maybe some big political concessions can give him a few more months. ,
Mr Khan, who has used anti-American rhetoric to his political advantage, has attacked his critics by saying they are backed by foreign powers, namely the United States. At a political rally in Swat last week, he urged the crowd to support him against “the slaves of America.”
While Mr. Khan has held several meetings with Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, Pakistan’s relations with the United States have cooled and Mr. Khan has yet to speak with President Biden.
In recent speeches, he has emphasized his resistance to US foreign policy, which has made Pakistan a base for counter-terrorist operations, and his supporters have claimed that the current base of opposition is to the United States for operations. denies permission to use Pakistani bases for Afghanistan. Last June, Mr Khan said that Pakistan would “absolutely not” allow the CIA to use bases inside Pakistan for counter-terrorist operations inside Afghanistan.
The opposition has urged a more cooperative relationship with the United States, but opposition lawmaker Khurram Dastagir Khan dismissed the claims of foreign powers behind the opposition campaign as “absurd”.
“There is no foreign hand,” he said. “The only hand in this episode is the opposite hand of the Pakistani people, who are praying for salvation from the present government.”
Maleeha Lodhi, a former Pakistani ambassador to the United States and Britain, called the allegations of foreign interference “a classic populist but hollow tactic used by troubled governments”.
“It has no basis, but its purpose is to establish an excuse and find an external scapegoat if the no-confidence vote is lost,” she said.
Rising tensions have raised fears of violence as both sides engage in heated rhetoric and the political crisis pushes the country into a new period of instability and turmoil. Opposition politicians are accusing Mr Khan’s party of using violence to intimidate his critics and opponents.
On Friday, dozens of Mr Khan’s supporters attacked a building where disgruntled lawmakers from his party had taken refuge, citing threats to their safety. Two of the attackers – MLAs from Mr Khan’s party – were arrested but quickly released.
The opposition responded to Mr Khan’s planned rally in Islamabad by declaring a retaliatory protest, raising fears of a possible violent confrontation.
Human Rights Watch warned last week that both sides should urge their supporters to refrain from violence.
“It is the responsibility of the government to uphold the Constitution and allow voting on a no-confidence motion without intimidation or violence,” the group said in a statement. “Both the government and the opposition must send a strong message to their supporters not to sabotage the democratic process or influence the vote through intimidation or other criminal acts.”
#Struggle #survival #Pakistans #cricket #star #prime #minister
Related
About the author
error: Content is protected !!