Daily Times

When forces forcibly bring unelected people to the power center of the country, politics becomes the first causality, followed by the economy, democracy, and rule of law. Pakistan needs a way forward out of this morass if it has to move forward to become a normal state. The first step to that effect could be the annihilation of political engineering labs – once and for all.

For Pakistan, the organic pathway to progress has been halted time and again by powers that be via political projects in hybridism. They have come to power directly via coups or by moving their political pawns on the political chessboard of Pakistan. Having done so, they have demoralized the younger generation by painting politics as a game, who otherwise could have led the country by supplying new blood to the political leadership of the country.

To decoy Pakistanis, a big show was installed in 2018 with unceasing chest-thumping and jubilation that Pakistan had finally vindicated itself from corrupt dynastic political parties. Portraying Imran Khan as a messianic figure, the power centers maintained that they were masters of the art of politics of manipulation. Sacrificing one popular politician at the altar to establish another for perpetuating their hegemony over the whole state and society has been the hallmark of such political trickery.

The way forward for Pakistan is to close all the labs of political experimentation so that people elect their true rulers.

Interestingly, the power centers have not only acquired the cognition to manipulate the law of the land in their favor but have also skilled themselves to dump one politician after another having used them to increase their political power. For the last three-and-a-half years, they used Khan as a pawn to crush political dissent that they did not like. But Khan had different intentions. Khan’s insistence on meddling inside began a domino effect as hubris of one-page stance of civil-military ties broke away into pieces.

Doubting the military’s intentions, Khan blamed the former Chief of Amry Staff, Qamar Javed Bajwa, for helping Nawaz Sharif to leave the country. But the story does not end here. Khan kept tightening the opposition and incarcerated the whole political leadership of Pakistan Muslim Leaque-Nawaz on trumped-up charges.

Interestingly, Khan turned the political scene in his favor using a foreign conspiracy narrative, where he claimed that America was behind his ouster. Muddling the political waters, Khan indirectly attempted to use the anti-american sentiments of Pakistanis. Though it was a claim of rhetorical value, it worked for Khan immensely as most of the people bought this blatant lie.

Cashing on the anti-west sentiments, Khan began to demand snap polls as it was in his favor since he had become immensely popular with the public. The coalition government, on the other hand, had lost its political capital having taken tough economic measures to meet the demands of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to get a bailout. This again helped Khan bring the coalition government under pressure.

Ironically, the coalition government stayed intact and never lost political ground to Khan despite him taking out rallies all across Pakistan, riding the wave of populism. The tug-of-war between the government, the opposition, and the establishment continued for some months until Khan became exasperated.

Though making repeated attempts to force the government into elections, Khan realized the fact that given the economic conditions, it is an innocuous demand. Having exhausted himself, the party, and his political capital on the roads for more than eight months, Khan had dissolved his assemblies in Punjab and KPK. Leaving the political sphere from the federal government by giving resignations and by dissolving provincial assemblies, Khan has made himself vulnerable as it is speculated that he could be imprisoned anytime now if he creates trouble to derail the economy.

To cut long story short, the hybrid system collapsed in a way that it had jeopardized the country by destroying the political setup of Pakistan; deepening polarization, and increasing inflation by pushing the country towards sovereign default.

Last but not the least, the way forward for Pakistan is to close all the labs of political experimentation so that people elect their true rulers who can resolve their issues, paving the path for consensus within the country.

The writer is a freelance columnist. He can be reached at They6776@gmail.com