Cricketer turned politician, Imran Khan on Sunday earned the dubious distinction of being the first Pakistani Prime Minister to be ousted through a no-trust motion. In the past, all others holding this position, have lost their office, through resignations enforced by the circumstances or because of a coup by the powerful Pakistani Army. Although Imran has lost the battle in the National Assembly, he is now preparing to take his anti-US political narrative to the streets and hopes that it shall help him get back to power whenever the next elections take place. Imran is likely to be replaced by Shehbaz Sharif, younger brother of former Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif after he emerged as the joint candidate of the Opposition. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari could be the next foreign minister. In a week packed with political drama which compelled the Supreme Court to intervene and restore the Assembly that had been unconstitutionally dissolved by the deputy Speaker last Sunday, there was never a dull moment. The pendulum of possibilities swung from one end to the other, though the numbers were heavily stacked against Imran, who is an icon in his own country, having led Pakistan to win the World Cup Cricket tournament way back in the 1990s.
However, the confrontation that has led to his ouster is bound to have an impact on his popularity and things may go sour for him, particularly in the Punjab province, which has a dominant role in Pakistan’s politics. The developments in Islamabad were prompted by a Cable from a Diplomat, who claimed that the United States was trying to destablise Pakistan and wanted Imran Khan out. The former Prime Minister’s supporters and he himself alleged that money had been paid to organize defections and most of the Opposition leaders were playing along with the American designs. The veracity of this charge could never be established, though the United States vehemently denied interfering in Pakistan’s internal matters. Imran, who did not distinguish himself as the Prime Minister, tried to exploit the anti-US narrative which exists in Pakistan and calculated that it would help him trounce his opponents. Although the United States and Pakistan have been long-standing allies, there is a growing feeling amongst the people that this relationship had hurt Pakistan which had become an instrument to be used as and when the US governments wanted.
This is also true that Pakistan has over the years benefitted heavily from the support it has received from Washington, though since last one year, ever since Joe Biden became the President, he had not spoken even once with Imran Khan. On his part, Imran, who is a Pathan and identifies himself with certain sections of the Taliban, wanted to emerge as the undisputed leader of a section of Pakistan and Afghanistan. In Pakistan, where politics is dominated mostly by the Punjabis, other communities, particularly the Pathans have not endorsed this kind of unequal treatment. Throughout the Islamic world, the government-to-government relationship of most countries has been good with the United States. However, this cordiality is not reflected amongst people, who feel that America was largely anti-Islamic and was prompted in many of its actions by the powerful Jewish lobby. This may be a reality but for any government, especially in Pakistan to take a hostile view of America was not going to pay off.
There was a time when the credo in Pakistan were the 3As (Allah, America, and Army). Of late, the 3As have given way to ABC (Allah, Bajwa, and China). In these difficult times, Imran, who is an alumnus of the Oxford University, and was amongst the most educated Muslim rulers of the globe, has been aspiring for greater things. He knew that his popularity in his own country was on the decline and in order to push the narrative, he had even started praising India, which he said had an independent foreign policy, which Pakistan needs to emulate. In other words, he has been attempting to make foreign policy, the top agenda of any future elections.
By branding his rivals as stooges of America, Imran has been at pains to paint them as anti-National, something they would have to reckon with when the polls take place. For the time being, Pakistan is going to witness heightened political activity which could see the former Prime Minister behind bars. The season of politics has begun but political instability in Pakistan is not good for New Delhi which would have to prepare itself against irresponsible actions of the Pakistan establishment which may want to distract attention from their domestic issues. Imran, in the words of Aitzaz Ahsan, an eminent lawyer-politician, who defended Benazir Bhutto, took a cheeky single and got stranded on the wrong side with no way of winning the match. Thus it is clear that he has lost this round and has been knocked out.