Is the outgoing Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif’s boast about his proximity to the GHQ in a speech on the eve of the dissolution of the National Assembly an indication which way the wind will blow in general election to be held next year ?
With Queen or the old ‘Begum’ of the political harem of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Imran Khan Niazi, a former PM, finally being dumped with the help of Kangaroo courts, the decks have now been cleared for fresh polls to ensure a landslide victory for the ruling coalition considered to be a ‘hybrid regime’ led by PM Shehbaz Sharif. A hybrid regime comprises civilian leadership as the face of the government, but the actual power lies with the army.
Imran Khan, a cricketer-turned politician, despite being convicted and arrested, continues to be the most popular figure in Pakistan. His absence in the elections gives the ruling coalition a chance to return to power without much opposition.
It may be recalled that just on the eve of the 2018 polls, the then PM, Nawaz Sharif, was implicated in false cooked up corruption cases and was convicted, thus paving the way for Khan to win the polls. Five years, later, the history is being repeated, now this time the target is Khan and his party, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).
After being ousted from power, Khan’s opponents had adopted twin strategy of forming an alliance of the opposition parties and also befriending the then army chief, General Qamar Jawed Bajwa. It has given them rich political dividends. The two major but rival political parties Pakistan Muslim League- Noon (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had supported the extension of Bajwa, thus renewing their ties with the GHQ. It also ended army’s political dependence on Khan.Khan’s confrontation with Army The protest of Khan’s supporters including the attacks on military facilities in Lahore might lead to his trial before the military courts. Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has said the military courts are a necessary for handing out punishment for rebellion against the state. “Whatever was happening on that day, it was a political party attacking the Pakistan army or air force,” he further stated in a media interview that “We are acting in response to that war which was declared on [the] Pakistan army on May 9.”
With their winning the support of the GHQ, the coalition comprising as many as 11 disparate political outfits, formed in 2020 under the banner of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), is now well-entrenched in the country’s power game. On April 10, 2022 through a no-confidence motion, PDM finally ousted Khan and his PTI from power. Earlier, it appeared that PDM’s agenda was not only to oust Khan from power, but also assert civilian supremacy in the country’s governance, but later, Shehbaz Sharif, was seen echoing his loyalties towards the GHQ.
