Khan poised to be PM — but is election tainted?
For the last week, there has been a ruckus outside Avenfield House, the London residence of former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, where he and his children were residing while his wife underwent cancer treatment at Harley Street. Supporters of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party have been clashing outside the Mayfair property with their political opponents from Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) over a July 6 judicial ruling in Pakistan, whereby it was decided that Sharif was unable to prove that his expensive flats in Avenfield House (he is said to own four) were bought by legitimate means.
Both Sharif and his daughter, Maryam Nawaz, largely seen as his political successor, have been disqualified from contesting elections and sentenced to prison terms. They claim to be innocent of the corruption charges and have, contrary to the expectations of skeptics, returned to Pakistan to abide by the judicial verdict and rally political support for their party ahead of the July 25 polls.
Khan's 22-year political career has always focused on corruption in government as a key impediment to progress. His political prospects have never looked as promising as they do today. But, in fulfilling his dream of becoming prime minister, has he lost all sense of fair play?
Not only have political opponents like Sharif and his daughter been disqualified from contesting elections on corruption charges, but scores of their party activists have been rounded up to prevent them from protesting the arrest of their leader, or showing their political support. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of the slain Benazir Bhutto and leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, has also been prevented from campaigning freely in Punjab, the most populous province, where Khan must win a majority if he is to become PM. Haroon Bilour, a political opponent in the northwest of the country, was killed by a Taliban bomb last week as he held a corner meeting with party activists, throwing his Awami National Party, critics of Khan's PTI in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, into disarray just before the polls.
The media has also been muzzled, with orders to gag voices of dissent, especially in KP, where the PTI has been in power for the last five years. Sharif's speeches have also been censored, particularly when he has accused the judicial-military alliance (euphemistically referred to as the “establishment”) helping catapult Khan to power. Sharif himself is no stranger to establishment machinations and political engineering. A protege of the military Gen. Mohammed Zia-ul-Haq, Sharif was the “establishment” politician of choice back in the early 1990s.
Short of acknowledging his own role as an establishment lackey back in the day, Sharif seems eager to call out the establishment over its alleged behind-the-scenes manipulation of the upcoming Pakistani elections. His brother, Shehbaz, who served repeatedly as Chief Minister of Punjab in Sharif's government, is less inclined to take on the establishment. His speeches, which are reconciliatory in tone, differ greatly from Sharif's as he attempts to position himself as a tried and tested alternative to his brother and to the unconventional Khan. Curiously, graft allegations against Shehbaz haven't been pursued with the same zeal as those against his brother.
The electoral prospects of the PTI have been further bolstered by shifting allegiances, whereby “electable politicians,” those whose families have a history of winning in certain constituencies, have allegedly been bribed or threatened to dump Sharif's party for Khan's.
Ayesha Ijaz Khan
But Shehbaz Sharif is unable to pull in the same crowds as Nawaz Sharif or Khan. The electoral prospects of the PTI have been further bolstered by shifting allegiances, whereby “electable politicians,” those whose families have a history of winning in certain constituencies, have allegedly been bribed or threatened to dump Sharif's party for Khan's.
Many of them come from South Punjab, where some legitimate grievances exist in terms of the Sharif government having spent more money on developing Central Punjab (where their own electoral base lies). Nevertheless, such a large number of politicians moving from Sharif's party to Khan's so close to the elections does raise eyebrows. Others who have left Sharif's party at the final hour have decided to run independent of party affiliation and it is widely believed that they may be instrumental in helping Khan form a coalition government in the event that he does not win a majority.
This begs the question, however, what good can Khan possibly do with a team of “electable politicians” who have a history of jumping from one political party to another so that they are never far from the corridors of power? Isn't this the status quo Khan promised to fight against when he first embarked on his political career? Or is he so consumed by his dream of becoming prime minister that no principle matters anymore?
His supporters insist that all wayward politicians will fall in line once Khan is PM. Since he isn't corrupt, they argue, no one will dare transgress.
The point is that, if Khan is going to win an election, which some believe to be unfair, and freeload off friends and benefactors whose means of income he cannot readily explain, what is the difference between him and the corruption he set out to campaign against? Increasingly, it looks like Khan has decided, if he can't beat them, he may as well join them.
• Ayesha Ijaz Khan is a lawyer who lives in London. She comments frequently on Pakistani politics. Twitter: @ayeshaijazkhan
