Opinion | The Genesis of Pakistan Political Crisis.

Even by the standards of its perpetually unstable politics, the last few months in the neighbouring state of Pakistan have been extremely turbulent. Pakistan got a government as of April 11 after Former Prime Minister Imran Khan was forced out of office through a vote of no confidence by the PDM parties led by PMLN. The weeks leading up to the vote, from the filing of the motion on March 8 to the vote on April 10, were dramatic and full of intrigue and ultimately the PTI government was ousted from power and Shehbaz Sharif assumed the office as the PM of Pakistan. The country is in serious economic and political crisis. Shahbaz Sharif’s new government has been in a state of decision paralysis and is struggling to find any stability. On the other hand the ousted prime minister is addressing rallies across the country attacking Shehbaz government’s legitimacy and pressing for fresh elections in the country. The current crisis has its genesis in the chequered History of Pakistan. While PM Khan was Pakistan’s first premier to be ousted by a no-confidence vote, he joined  his earlier predecessors in the list of prime minister  not completing five years in office. Pakistan’s major opposition parties including PMLN and PPP were clamoring for Khan’s exit since he assumed  office in 2018.The PDM parties had been Levelling allegations against the establishment and calling Mr Khan a ‘selected’ not ‘elected’ PM. interestingly Mr Khan was ousted out of the power by the same military who allegedly helped him to his position.

It is widely believed that the Gulf between PM Imran Khan and General Bajwa was widening with growing disagreements between the two regarding many sets of issues including the appointment of ISI chief, CM punjab and Mr khan’s policy visa viz the West, especially Washington. This is not the first time that Pakistan army or establishment has indulged in the country’s political affairs. In fact The Pakistan army’s first political intervention dates back to 1958, led by General Ayub Khan, who abolished the constitutional regime established by the 1956 Constitution. Subsequently, the Army went on to stage three coups in October 1958, July 1977, and October 1999.The recent regime change operation planned by Gen Bajwa with the support of PDM can also be referred to as a Soft military coup. Ousted PM Khan has been trying hard to mobilize the masses by Levelling allegations against America for his ouster ,he has been accusing America in his political rallies and  referring to a cypher from an American diplomat but the fact is that the military establishment orchestrated his ouster and threw him out of the office. The reality is that the army has access to govern the country either directly or indirectly through proxy civilian governments. IN order to justify its existence, it harboured various issues and ‘ invasion threat from India’ which called for a strong army base- considered a necessity for the existence of the country – the same has been repeatedly advocated by every Pakistan Army chief.

The Army has successfully used this security threat and ideology to gain financial assistance from across the Islamic world and elsewhere for its own prosperity. Army generals have amassed immense wealth at the cost of poor people of the country. Even recently the army has ordered for the import of modern Hi tech vehicles at a time when the country is at the brink of bankruptcy due to loan defaults. The primary of an Armed force is to protect the national borders and ensure the security of the country and its people besides   assisting the civil administration in emergency situations like flood, Earthquake or pandemic etc. Unnecessary involvement of the military in terms of time and manpower in civilian matters is not advisable for the armed forces of any democratic state in the modern world. Pakistan army is one of the most well funded and modern armies in the world,
it became a vital political force and increasingly infiltrated the economy. Its penetration into crucial political decisions became entrenched in the 80s while the greatest penetration into the economy and society took place in following decade and could not be reversed till date.

In the present scheme of things almost all the political parties have been glued by Gen bajwa on one platform against PTI and Imran khan but this coalition in the name of PDM was short lived because the mighty Pakistan army has been using this tactic of ‘use and throw’ since decades. They have also been successfully able to influence the judiciary, NAB and the election commission over the years.

Following the disqualification of PMLN supremo Nawaz Shareef, the Army helped Imran khan to come to the power but once Mr khan refused to toe the Rawalpindi line, he was disgrcefully ousted out of the power and the same set of politicians were empowered whom the establishment used to dub as corrupt and incompetent, the corruption cases of all the PDM leaders including PMLN leaders Ishaq Dar and Maryam Nawaz were cleared, the NAB was reduced to a toothless tiger and the laws were tweaked to normalize corruption.

There is a strong Punjabi military judiciary nexus which prevents the democracy from flourishing even though the people have been calling for early elections since many weeks. The coming few weeks would be important because Gen Bajwa is completing his term in November and a new army chief would be appointed. Imran khan has been trying hard to press for early elections to ensure the appointment of an army chief of his liking to prolong his political career while as the PMLN led government would definitely like to appoint an army chief who would toe their line and crush the PTI and stop them from winning the upcoming General Elections.

(Rayees Masroor is a writer and columnist and can be reached at rayeesmasroor111@gmail.com)