A revolt within has shaken PM Khan’s government
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Prime minister Imran Khan may have survived the opposition blitz but now he faces a brewing revolt within his own party ranks presenting perhaps the biggest challenge to his fragile coalition government midway through its five-year term. Khan’s woes seem to have worsened with the reports of his growing differences with the military leadership. A divided house would make it extremely difficult for the government to get the annual budget passed by the parliament next month.
Although the discord within the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has been simmering for quite a while, it burst into the open last week when several national and provincial lawmakers announced to form a group calling the prime minister to address their grievances. Jahangir Tareen, a former secretary general of the ruling party and a close aide of the prime minister, leads the group. He was also seen as the architect of the coalition government, which came to power after the 2018 elections.
Tareen was instrumental in getting the PTI support of independently elected lawmakers who made it possible for the party to form governments both in the center as well as in the country’s most powerful Punjab province. One of the wealthiest businessmen in the country, Tareen had a falling out with Khan last year when he was accused in what is described as the ‘sugar scandal.’ While the enquiry of the scandal was yet to be completed, Tareen and his son were implicated in several cases of money laundering. He has blamed his opponents in the government and the party for conspiring against him.
Last month, some 40 lawmakers mostly from Punjab pledged their allegiance to Tareen in a major show of political strength. They include even provincial ministers. There were some other factors too that has brought them together. They demanded an end to what they described as “political persecution.”
Meanwhile, the ruling party has received serious electoral setbacks as it has lost all the by-elections for national as well as provincial assemblies held over the last few months.
Zahid Hussain
Although at the moment it’s seen as just a pressure group, it has the numbers to bring down the PTI governments in the center as well as in Punjab province. The development has intensified the factional battle within the party adding to the existing paralysis in the administration.
There is a move now from some senior party members to defuse the situation, yet it is not clear if the prime minister will concede to their demands. There may not be an imminent threat of its falling yet, but the revolt has certainly shaken the government that is still locked in a fierce battle with opposition parties.
Although the opposition alliance formed under the banner of Pakistan Democratic Alliance (PDM) has been weakened because of differences among the coalition partners, it still presents a formidable challenge to the government. The dissent within the ruling party has given a fresh impetus to the opposition to increase pressure on the government.
Meanwhile, the ruling party has received serious electoral setbacks as it has lost all the by-elections for national as well as provincial assemblies held over the last few months. It is in Punjab, its main power-base, where the PTI has suffered defeat.
It’s not surprising that the major thrust of the dissident group’s attack is directed against Usman Buzdar, the chief minister of Pakistan’s biggest province. Despite his ineffectiveness in providing governance, the prime minister is not willing to remove the controversial provincial chief executive.
That has also caused a widening of the gulf between the government and the security establishment. The military leadership has reportedly been asking the prime minister to remove Buzdar and has warned him against growing public discontent over the lack of governance and administrative mismanagement. In an unprecedented move, the army chief last month met with half a dozen federal ministers and conveyed to them his concerns. That has also led to speculation that the PTI dissenters may have the blessing of the military establishment in order to put pressure on the prime minister to get his act together. But all that pressure doesn’t’ seem to be working.
The PTI government’s failure to improve the economy and control spiralling food inflation has also caused growing public discontent. Since coming to power in August 2018, the prime minister has changed three finance ministers. But frequent changes in the cabinet have failed to address major problems faced by the government. The government’s failure on all fronts is apparent.
In this situation, the rise of a dissident group in the party could deal a very serious blow to Imran Khan’s government. It remains to be seen how the prime minister will deal with the multiple problems faced by his government.
*Zahid Hussain is an award-winning journalist and author. He is a former scholar at Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholar, USA, and a visiting fellow at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, and at the Stimson Center in Washington DC. He is author of Frontline Pakistan: The struggle with militant Islam (Columbia university press) and The Scorpion’s tail: The relentless rise of Islamic militants in Pakistan (Simon and Schuster, NY). Frontline Pakistan was the book of the year (2007) by the WSJ.
Twitter: @hidhussain