Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s heroism was that he would fight without giving up the last beheading. The Pakistani prime minister on Sunday “survived” the no-confidence motion, much to the consternation of opposition and political observers alike, who confirmed that Imran had a majority large enough to be beheaded. The former cricketer has beaten the opposition in a game-winning maneuver to find a replacement for the PM’s job if the no-confidence motion is passed.
The lifespan of this victory is to be decided by the Supreme Court. It remains to be seen how much the country will pay for the abandoned games it played in its efforts to deal with domestic political rivals. Imran, meanwhile, has been winning, insisting he will not kneel before the opposition.
He cut off his opponents with his decision to dissolve the National Assembly and seek a referendum. The question of why Democrats are so reluctant to go to the People’s Court for support is a mouthpiece for the opposition. Opponents are fully awaiting the Supreme Court’s ‘just’ intervention, knowing that the victorious Imran will not be captured.
The Pakistan Democratic Movement, a nine-member opposition coalition, has issued a no-confidence motion on March 8. It is common practice to overcome distrust by splitting the opposition with the influence of the ruling party. Benazir Bhutto in 1989 and Shaukat Aziz in 2006 overcame the no-confidence motion. But this time the main threat was the army in the Imran camp.
About two dozen people jumped out of the ruling party. The move to approach the court to order lifelong disqualification of the dissidents was abandoned in the face of increasing risk of failure. After that, a strategy was devised to defeat the opposition.
The conspiracy allegations were that the United States and the European Union were trying to overthrow the government, which did not catch on to its proximity to Russia and China. US Secretary of State for South Central Asian Affairs Imran Khan has warned that overcoming mistrust might have repercussions in Pakistan. Imran interpreted the foreign intervention and conspiracy as a cable message received by Secretary of State Donald Lou, informing the Pakistani diplomat.
At first it was seen as a mere political allegation but later it became serious. The National Security Council (NSC), the country’s top civilian-military body, met on April 1 to decide on a diplomatic response to the United States. Political observers have previously said that this was just an informal conversation between a US official and a diplomat and that there was nothing in it that might have led to the conspiracy.
However, Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry jumped at the chance following the Deputy Speaker informed the National Assembly that he had received a no-confidence motion yesterday. He argued that under Article 5 of the Pakistani Constitution, nationalism should be a fundamental right of every citizen and that a foreign conspiracy was being hatched to oust the government and that the resolution was part of it.
He demanded that the constitutional validity of the resolution be clarified. Taking this into account, the Deputy Speaker rejected the resolution. The Prime Minister immediately met with the President and recommended the dissolution of the National Assembly. He immediately accepted it and ordered.
Four years following the Imran government came to power with a handful of promises, including one crore jobs, half a crore housing and inflation control, 7.80 crore people in the country are living below the poverty line. Imran adopted the same approach as his predecessors in suppressing the failings of the regime by threatening external forces. It went a little further and extended to direct anti-Americanism and the conspiracy theories surrounding it.
By accusing the opposition of being partisan in the conspiracy, Imran has inflicted total treason on his political opponents. By blowing up an informal diplomatic cable message, he violated the common decency in international diplomacy. But this is not the case for Imran now.
He must win the episode. The old Pakistan captain is in the old heroic mood at the cricket crease who has to hit the opponent’s stumps in the limited overs of the last over. However, the court will now decide whether it is Imran or the Opposition who is thrown into the political maze.
