Imran Khan’s agitation innings
https://arab.news/pk6mw
True to his word, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan is already proving to be disruptive if not politically dangerous for the newly inaugurated government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Khan is leading his party's opposition to the current government through a host of elements. Four are particularly important.
Number one: Imran Khan’s story-line is straight and simple. The former PM, still an iconic figure, has said to the people of Pakistan that the US government wanted his removal and that Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington sent that message loud and clear in a cipher telegram.
Khan furthered this message with the conclusion that the US government actively worked for his removal, that the united opposition in cahoots with the US government tabled the vote of no confidence and the US agenda for his removal was successfully implemented. Such a message by the former Prime Minister with reference to a country notorious for interventions and regime change in foreign countries, has taken root in the hearts and minds of millions of Pakistanis.
Second, since the joint opposition’s depositing of the no confidence motion in the secretariat, Khan has very effectively, if not in an unprecedented manner, demonstrated his ability to mobilize massive street power. Although he held several public meetings, it was not until the March 27 meeting, when huge crowds with citizens of all ages, classes and ethnic groups responded to his call to arrive in Islamabad, that Khan claimed there was a foreign conspiracy hatched against him by the Americans which involved the united opposition.
After his April 9 removal through the vote of no confidence, gigantic crowds have turned out to attend Khan’s political rallies. Emerging as Pakistan's most charismatic crowd puller and successful agitational politician by far, the former PM has addressed record-breaking crowds in Peshawar and Karachi. Lahore awaits him this week. He may likely announce a sit-in protest thereafter.
With a no-holds-barred street protest pushing for immediate fresh elections, the Sharif government and its allies will need more than just the call to a rule of law to be able to survive in power.
Nasim Zehra
Millions of Pakistanis, especially in the cities, see him as their chosen leader ordained to deliver all that Pakistanis have missed-- rule of law, economic prosperity, true democracy, peoples’ welfare, politicians with steady loyalty to a single party, respect for Pakistan on the world stage etc. His three and a half year performance isn’t in question…for now Pakistan's street power is at his beck and call.
Three, the ousted Prime Minister is raising questions about law and justice in Pakistan and calling out the country’s highest court.
At the stroke of midnight on April 9th, the national assembly speaker had been bound by the SC’s judgement to ensure that the vote was carried through. That didn’t appear to be happening and late into the night, the doors of the Supreme Court were flung open, even though earlier on the same day, the court had remained shut around noon when the government’s team went to file an application for review of the April 7th order.
Fourth, invoking the power of collective pressure, the former Prime Minister appears to have conveyed to his supporters and others that he alone can provide the leadership that is needed in Pakistani politics, society and the government… the ‘moral,’ the honest and nationalist leadership.
An important aspect of this collective pressure comes via social media… the trolling, often in the form of abusive and accusatory attacks by PTI supporters against those who disagree with their party’s story-line regarding a US conspiracy to remove Imran Khan from office or are critical of the PTI government’s performance. The leader himself laid the foundations for this nature of collective pressure when in his earlier speech still as PM, Khan had warned the people that if they did not stand with the ‘right,’ society would censure them, no one would meet them socially, their kids would be ostracized in school and no one would marry their children. This collective pressure has now acquired a violent streak. Beyond being sharply criticized and abused on social media, there is an emerging trend of physically targeting politicians, seen as turncoats and journalists critical of PTI. The beginnings of this ugly violence was witnessed when a brawl erupted between an elderly distraught PTI supporter and several politicians, and subsequently in the provincial assembly in Lahore, where the police was called in to protect the deputy speaker who was under consistent attack by PTI and PMLQ’s parliamentarians.
The many questions related to factual consistency in Imran Khan’s political stance on issues ranging from honesty and integrity of politicians to Pakistan's foreign policy of past governments appear for now to be secondary, with the avalanche of support he visibly enjoys in urban Pakistan and among overseas Pakistanis.
Imran Khan, committed to disrupting the functioning of the new government through continued mammoth street protests leading perhaps to another sit-in, will pose a huge challenge to PM Shehbaz Sharif, who hopes to stay in power for at least a year. With a no-holds-barred street protest pushing for immediate fresh elections, the Sharif government and its allies will need more than just the call to a rule of law to be able to survive in power.
- Nasim Zehra is an author, analyst and national security expert.
Twitter: @NasimZehra