Imran’s mockery of democracy in calling snap polls
The theatre of the absurd was in full play in Pakistan on Sunday after its Parliament got down to business to decide whether Prime Minister Imran Khan had the mandate to stay in office in the wake of a no-trust motion tabled by the opposition. Scene One began with the deputy speaker of the National Assembly dramatically spiking the no-confidence vote by invoking a clause on loyalty to the state for the flimsiest of reasons, agreeing with his party’s propaganda blitz that the motion has its roots in a foreign plot to topple the government.
Chances of it surviving legal scrutiny are at best remote if the judiciary is truly free and independent. Scene Two came soon enough, with Imran recommending the dissolution of Parliament and getting approval from his loyalist President in double-quick time. The dumbstruck opposition got some play in Scene Three as they ‘elected’ Shehbaz Sharif as their prime minister after the jubilant treasury left the House. Just when Imran was preening about his parliamentary skulduggery, mocking the opposition for not knowing what hit them, Scene Four opened on a sobering note with the Supreme Court getting into the act, taking suo motu cognisance of what is being widely seen as a civilian and constitutional coup.
That the powerful military establishment went neutral after openly propping up Imran till a few months ago indicated the latter might not have it easy in the judiciary and the people’s court. Imran has since named the US official from whom he claims the ‘threat’ letter to unseat him originated, a charge America has emphatically denied. Chances of his relationship further worsening with the US can only go up.
While there are reports suggesting his mass popularity has not diminished, it’s Imran’s misgovernance that dragged Pakistan further down the international debt road, making its economy unsustainable. If he does get a better popular mandate in fresh polls, chances of his face-off with the Miltablishment would only heighten, since he wanted his loyalist former ISI boss as Army chief, which the incumbent is completely against. Who generally has the last laugh in the martial law-prone country if an arrogant head of the nation turns the Army into his adversary is a no-brainer.