Pakistan plunges into turmoil

Imran Khan’s poor governance record eroded his ties with army, and a new regime won’t have it easy

For many decades, cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan nursed a burning ambition to become Pakistan’s prime minister (PM) Those dreams came true in the general election of 2018, when the tacit backing of the military establishment ensured a mandate for Mr Khan. A little more than three years into his term, Mr Khan is perilously close to losing his grip on power and being unseated in a vote of confidence in the National Assembly, thanks to a united Opposition that has closed ranks with dissidents in Mr Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.

Barring the success of some sporadic efforts to get the army to again throw its weight behind Mr Khan, it is likely he will have to step down sometime this week.  (Reuters)

Mr Khan’s failure was largely brought on by his hubris. It appears that once his grand plan to become PM was achieved, he really did not know how to deliver on virtually any front, be it governance, national security or the economy. At a mega rally in Islamabad on Sunday, Mr Khan defended his governance record, especially on development and launched a veiled attack at the army and Opposition, projecting his personal political survival as a battle for the future of Pakistan. Then there was the bizarre spectacle of two ministers in Mr Khan’s government publicly announcing that they would prefer to become suicide bombers to target the Opposition and the Parliament. If nothing else, such public pronouncements by Mr Khan and his aides – at a time when the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman has reportedly been able to gather more people for an Opposition rally – reek of the desperation within the ruling party.

Barring the success of some sporadic efforts to get the army to again throw its weight behind Mr Khan, it is likely he will have to step down sometime this week. The buzz in Islamabad’s political circles is that the military has had enough of the poor administrative abilities of the government, especially after Mr Khan sought to hold up the appointment of a new Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief last year in an apparent attempt to influence the choice of the next army chief. There are also whispers the army is upset with Mr Khan’s excessive reliance on the counsel of his wife, a pirni or spiritual guide, for all sorts of decisions. The Pakistan army, which has never covered itself in glory on its role in politics, appears to be staying neutral. But even the exit of Mr Khan will not mean the end of Pakistan’s current woes. The Opposition, if it forms a government, will have its hands full coping with a wide array of challenges.