Pakistan in crisis

Global Lenses

Pakistan's political crisis has put pressure on the prime minister's opponents to remove him from office, but Imran Khan has accused foreign conspiracies. How did Pakistan get to this point and what would it mean for the country? This is one of the biggest tests of his career in which a former cricket star became the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan. He tried to delay the vote in parliament to oust him, but his opponents say the tide has turned against him for a long time. The MPs met to discuss their fate after the Supreme Court declared Khan's attempt to dissolve parliament and hold new elections unconstitutional. Opposition members have accused him of failing to root out corruption and fix a struggling economy, but Khan says there is a US-backed conspiracy to oust him. Washington denies the allegations. Khan is refusing to recognize the opposition government and has called on his supporters to protest.

"..there's only one decision that there is constitutional no confidence in the parliament against the prime minister according to the democratic norms, and rules and constitution."--Maryam Aurangzeb

The opposition wanted to hurry the vote because their main fear was if the supreme court the case which is on article 63A, decided that members who have decided not to vote with khan are therefore defectors in advance of the vote. Then what would happen to them. before the supreme court judgment comes, they tried to rush the boat.

The reason for Pakistan coming to this point is that the promises made during the last three and a half years when Imran Khan came to power have not been fulfilled. There is rising inflation. The rupee is losing its value. The country's economy is declining and most importantly, Pakistan's powerful military establishment is no longer supporting Imran Khan, which the opposition accused him of coming to power only with its backing. Now they are playing a neutral role.

How Imran Khan got to this point.

With the rise in food prices by 23% since the onset of the pandemic, the cost of living in Pakistan has skyrocketed. Opposition parties have blamed Khan for the economic woes and rising foreign debt. The pressure peaked when the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), a close ally of Imran Khan, left the government and changed course before the no-confidence vote, reducing its majority in the assembly. His relations with the military have also been shaken by differences in foreign policy decisions.

 

How long has the tide been turning against Imran khan?

Most of us who consider ourselves democrats will say so from the beginning the tide has been turning against Khan. We do not consider Khan as the elected Prime Minister of Pakistan. He has always been called the elected Prime Minister of Pakistan because he was brought in with the help of the military establishment but the game played by the opposition parties for the sake of democracy remained intact and where we are today is literally just democracy. The former prime minister did not have the votes and he sought to violate the constitution. It went to the Supreme Court, which declared Mr. Khan's actions unconstitutional and demanded a no-confidence vote in parliament. (Farahnaz)

Khan and Military relations:

There is tension between the army and Imran Khan which makes the military seem to have agreed to play a neutral role in politics which it did not do in the 2018 elections but when I see there is a very uncomfortable feeling that there are elements within the army who continue to support Khan and that is because when I compare Khan's style what apparently the Army chief no longer support him. In the case of previous governments who had lost confidence in the military or whose relations with the military were strained, they were treated very badly compared to what Khan Sahib is facing at the moment. There is hardly any propaganda except for a few stories here and possibly about his and his wife's involvement in corruption. But not really as substantial as Nawaz Sharif or the PPP government faced, which makes me think that maybe there is some support left within the army. (Siddika, A.)

Economic situation:

This is all due to the current political turmoil. In fact, when the previous government was gone, Pakistan was still facing an economic crisis, but now it has emerged. We can see that the prices of everything are going up so much that we can see things of everyday usage have become very expensive for a common man. Pakistan needs a solid economic plan in a situation in which political turmoil has once again made it difficult for Pakistan to survive. So we look forward to the smooth work of the government. When we look at the past, we can see that Pakistan has always faced this kind of political turmoil. Only three Prime Ministers of Pakistan could complete four years, not even five years. In we can see that Sharif survived from 2013 to 2017 and now Imran Khan has completed his fourth year. The same pattern is being followed again and again in the fifth year. In the last year of tenure, other political parties seemed to be working together to pave the way for the next election. (Sarah A.)

Pak-US relations:

One reason is that Imran Khan has done a lot of these dramas because he wants early elections. He wants to be seen as a martyr removed from his post and then he expects his followers to vote for him again, but what I am seeing now is that If he continues to ignore the Supreme Court and behave in this undemocratic dictatorship, we may end up with a kind of technocratic government that may last longer. Because let's be honest, what it has done to Pakistan's economy is terrible. For those who are living in Karachi and inland Sindh, etc., it is very scary and horrible. What has he done for Pakistan's foreign policy? The United States, now our biggest assistance provider, has been accused of plotting to oust him, a conspiracy that no one has seen. It has created a political, diplomatic, and economic crisis we have never seen. (Farahnaz)

Ever since Pakistan was founded like the founder of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, our founder Mr. Jinnah was the first to send someone to Washington, D.C., because he understood that even though we were situated all the way down in South Asia, we needed the US. Unlike India, which wants more relations with Russia and non-alignment, Pakistan has always wanted an alliance with the United States. The Permanent Establishment in Pakistan believes that they have to save relations not only with the United States but also with many European countries and they do not want an unstable Pakistan. (Sarah, A.) The question about the US conspiracy has a simple answer. It is that this conspiracy is actually popular on the streets and there are two reasons why he is constantly referring to the US conspiracy: The first is that it increases the popularity of the people and the second and the popularity among second-rate military officers increases. (Siddika, A.)

Parliamentary system and opposition's move:

Many people do not understand that Pakistan does not have a presidential system. In a parliamentary democracy, the moment the opposition has numbers, they can overthrow any government. It happens in the UK. This is the vote of no confidence anyway. Therefore, no government comes with a five-year term in Pakistan. This is something that people do not understand Pakistan's system of government. (Sarah A.)

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Saira Assad, Adjunct Assistant Professor at Riphah International University

Aisha Siddika, Senior Fellow in the Department of War Studies at King's College London.

In Washington Dc Farahanaz Ispahani, the Writer and Former Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan.


This website takes the interviews of mentioned authors and re-writes them. The opinions and thoughts expressed on this website platform reflect only the author’s views.