Tag: imran khan

Khan opted to a smart dual approach for the newly appointed military chief General Asim Munir, by using a different narrative spread on the local and the foreign media outlets…Hamza Ameeer

Imran Khan, Pakistan’s most popular leader who is seen by many as the only hope for the country’s better and prosperous future. But is this the only side of the picture one wants to see and believe while screening his personality and political credentials?

In view of the recent history when in 2018 Khan took over Pakistan’s political stage and became the Prime Minister, till today; his personality, his political positioning and his definition of a democratic rule, has seen many twists and turns, showcasing various shades of grey in his personality, his capability, political compatibility and flexibility.

“Imran Khan has two main attributes; he is either anti-establishment or he is pro-establishment. And both are to the extreme inclination in every possible way,” said Amir Rana, an analyst.

“When he was pro-establishment, illegal recordings of Prime Minister’s House conversations, ministers and political leaders, ridiculing the parliament’s opposition parties, having open and illegal interventions of intelligence agencies in political affairs, openly stating that the ISI should be engaged to find out corruption of politicians and punishing them accordingly and using the military establishment to force political leaders to give consent to political decisions in Parliament, are some of the illegal and un-democratic ways Khan practiced openly and blatantly during his time in power since 2018,” said Mona Alan, a political analyst.

“And when he was ousted last April through the vote of no confidence in Parliament, which in itself is a democratic and constitutional process as per law; we saw and other side of Imran Khan, starting from being in an extreme love affairs with the military establishment to going absolutely against them,” she added.

Khan, after his ouster, lashed out at the military establishment, blasting them for becoming party to what he initially claimed as a US-led regime change conspiracy.

He slammed the opposition alliance and the military establishment for teaming up against him on orders of the Biden administration, accusing them as traitors of the state.

Khan’s public rallying campaign was able to spread his regime change narrative among the masses, as he even used the word “animals” for the then military establishment under then sitting army chief General Qamar Jawed Bajwa.

With his demands of early elections started to fade away and his decision to create political pressure on the coalition government of Shehbaz Sharif, along with the military establishment, lost the steam, Khan ended up dissolving his own provincial assemblies in Punjab and the Khuber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

Khan opted to a smart dual approach for the newly appointed military chief General Asim Munir, by using a different narrative spread on the local and the foreign media outlets.

“For the consumption of local media outlets, Imran Khan was seen stating that he is pro-military establishment. Khan has maintained that he has nothing against the military establishment and insists that he has no idea of the reason why the military establishment got annoyed with him and decided to dismantle him and his political party,” said Javed Siddique, a senior political analyst.

“But if you see his statements on various foreign media publications and media outlets, he is clearly seen pinpointing the military establishment, and specifically the Army Chief for being the prime reason for all the troubles in the country. Khan has even said that the military establishment is scared and petrified of his popularity because they know that he will win the next elections.”

It is a startling contrast on how Khan’s political narrative changes for the local media and his Pakistani support through pro-military establishment statements, and how it takes a 180-degree turn when he is speaking to the foreign, specifically western media, where he not only slams the army chief and the institution but also goes to the extent of accusing them and their serving intelligence officers of assassination attempts on his life.

However, one thing that remains constant on both shades of grey for Khan is the fact that he happens to be a political leader, who wants to be the face of a smooth democratic leadership and process of formation of a stable democratic and constitutional ruling governance in the country. Yet, he demands the very same military establishment to use its military might an intervene in political matters to ensure that he not only is brought back to power, but is also supported through all means, which may be unconstitutional, illegal and undemocratic.

And if that doesn’t happen, he foresees the country in a state of either a civil unrest or a martial law, which for him, surprisingly, is also a viable option if it can result in him coming back into power.

“Such undemocratic demands of military intervention in political affairs to form a democratic setup that runs without any political resistance, can never pave the way to a strong democracy in Pakistan. And it can never have a government setup in its true democratic spirit,” said Javed Siddique.

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The government maintains that it would hold election together in the whole country as having separate election in Punjab and KP provinces…reports Asian Lite News

Pakistan has become a country with a free flowing floods of political unrest, uncertainty and chaos as political rivals refuse to leave any leaf unturned to regain power, and in order to do that, gaining control of the political epicentre hub, the Punjab province.

Punjab, the largest province of the country, has been the epicentre of political unrest after Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan dissolved its assembly along with that of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) to assert pressure on the federal government and enforce early general elections in the country.

However, the ruling government countered the move by putting in place a caretaker government setup, which has already exceeded its 90 days tenure and still has no sight of holding election in the province.

The government maintains that it would hold election together in the whole country as having separate election in Punjab and KP provinces, followed by general election in rest of the country is something that the country cannot afford financially and politically.

This has led to a political unrest in the Punjab province, with PTI protesting and challenging the caretaker setup authority along with the federal government’s refusal to hold elections in the courts.

“Politics in Punjab is what establishes who takes control in the federal government and the country at large. This is why PTI and the other political parties are working hard to regain control of the political setup in Punjab. And in process, plunging it into extreme political crisis,” said Muhammad Hassan, political analyst based in Lahore.

The current unrest, resulting after the arrest of the former Prime Minister Khan from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officials, saw one of the worst violence in Punjab, especially its provincial capital Lahore, where PTI workers and supporters stormed the core commander office, vandalising and looting it, which was followed by attacks on state institution buildings and installations of security forces in different parts of the province, has resulted in more cases of serious charges registered against Khan, his party leaders and workers.

The unrest has certainly established that the real fight for power and the future coarse of political future for political parties, banks on the power game in the Punjab province.

Experts say Punjab is going to be the centre of political fight between Khans’s party and his rival political parties as Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), once ruled Punjab as its stronghold, wants to regain strength, Pakistan People Party (PPP), which has established its strong base in Sindh province, is now making strong in-roads in Punjab to return to power through political maneuvering, and PTI, which let go of its control on the province by dissolving assemblies, wants to regain the throne and use it to weaken the federal government and pressurise them to go into early general elections.

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Former Pakistan PM said that former army chief suggested that if the PTI chief sought elections, he should first dissolve his governments in the two provinces…reports Asian Lite News

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan said he dissolved the provincial assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) after the former army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa advised him to do so, The News.com reported.

During a meeting with General Bajwa where President Arif Alvi was also present, the former army chief suggested that if the PTI chief sought elections, he should first dissolve his governments in the two provinces, Khan said in a recent interview with a private news channel on Sunday, The News.com reported. The deposed premier, who was voted out of office in April last year after a no-confidence motion, said the Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief told him that Bajwa wanted to bring Shehbaz Sharif into power.

“General Bajwa and the [premier intelligence] agency knew that the current rulers had stolen the money from the national kitty and taken it abroad. Despite knowing this, General Bajwa was willing to give them ‘NRO’ as he had planned an extension [for himself],” Khan said.

During the interview, Imran Khan added that the polls can take place in July if Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif dissolves the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament.

“Elections can be held in July if the prime minister dissolves the assembly,” the ousted premier said.

He also stressed that caretaker governments in both Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the provinces where Khan’s party was in power before he decided to dissolve its two assemblies on January 14 and 18, respectively, are illegal after the lapse of their stipulated term, The News.com reported.

He demanded that the caretaker government be abolished and a new “neutral” interim setup be instated.

He added that the Supreme Court of Pakistan has given May 14 as the date for Punjab polls and his party won’t let the government go beyond that.

“If they think they [incumbent government] will pressurise the Supreme Court, we will not let it happen. They will scandalise the top court to run away from elections,” he said.

In response to the PTI’s call for elections in the two provinces, the government has, time and again, insisted on conducting elections, to the national and provincial assemblies, together in October, The News.com reported.

A three-member bench of the Supreme Court had fixed May 14 as the new date for the election to the Punjab Assembly, quashing the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to extend the polls date from April 10 to Oct 8.

While security has been cited as a major concern for the government to refuse to hold the polls, the lack of funds for carrying out the task has also been communicated as the main reason for their insistence on delay.

The PTI chief shared the suggestion while refusing to back down from his demand for the snap polls. “There may be no money even in October. The situation may worsen. We cannot go beyond May 14.”

The former prime minister further said that inflation irked the public, and the government is running away from its reaction by postponing the elections.

“They are scared of elections,” he said censuring the Shehbaz-led administration.

Khan insisted that the ECP is working in connivance with the ruling Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), an alliance of 13 political parties.

“Maryam Nawaz is receiving protocol. The election commission is with them,” he said, directing his criticism towards the electoral body and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior vice-president.

Commenting on talks with the ruling alliance in Islamabad, Khan said he had given the mandate of negotiations to his party’s Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi and not to Asad Qaisar, the former speaker of the National Assembly, The News.com reported.

“There has been no discussion on negotiations with Shah Mahmood Qureshi so far,” he said amid reports that some major political parties had reached out to the PTI.

Earlier this week, the CJP Bandial said the apex court could make some room and change the date of elections if all the political parties evolve a consensus to hold talks. The court had earlier also stressed on political parties to sit together to resolve the issues.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, meanwhile, expressed his support for the proposal, calling on his allies and all other political parties to come together and try to end the ongoing crises, The News.com reported.

PPP senior leader Qamar Zaman Kaira also confirmed that the ruling alliance made a contact with the PTI. Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Emir Siraj Ul Haq has also been actively trying to build a bridge between the PTI and the coalition parties in the government.

Khan, however, claimed that the government would use negotiations to further delay the polls. (ANI)

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