Daily Times

By this morning, Pakistanis should know what lies ahead. Irrespective of who forms the government and whether it will be a majority government or a coalition, the new government will have to face phenomenal challenges. It will be tasked with resuscitating Pakistani democracy and its economy, both of which lie in tatters thanks for most part to the political ruckus that many believe Imran Khan led at the behest of the powerful military establishment, aided by the superior judiciary. If there had been some measure of political stability over the past five years, Pakistan would have been in much better condition than it is today.

The situation was so bad that the previous government couldn’t even celebrate its first anniversary in 2014 because the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT)brought thousands of workers to Islamabad, holding the capital hostage for over four months with their sit-in. As they had occupied a critical part of the city just in front of Parliament, Supreme Court and other key offices, a visit from the Chinese President had to be postponed until April next year. If it were not for the horrific killing of over 130 students in the Army Public School Peshawar at the hands of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, the sit-in would have continued until god knows when.

Fortunately, Pakistan saw a relative lull from political agitation in 2015 and for most of 2016. The country saw inauguration of projects and economic activities under the monumental China Pakistan Economic Corridor. Pakistan saw its highest reserves in foreign exchange in October 2016 when it stood at just over $24 billion.

The nexus that had formed against the PML-N became visible for all to see when overnight the PML-N led government in Balochistan fell short of the majority as a new break-away group emerged against the party

Sadly, around this time the Dawn Leaks happened. The news report had nothing that the media hadn’t covered already. However, because the civilian leadership had attempted to assert itself against the military and intelligence agencies, it had to be put in its place. The next six months were plagued by political uncertainty and increasing strife between the military and civilian government.

The Dawn Leaks issue was hardly over when the Supreme Court, disposing off the Panama Offshore Assets case in July 2017, declared Nawaz Sharif guilty for not disclosing a salary that he said he hadn’t received in the first place. The court removed him from the prime minister’s office, disqualified him from holding any public office or taking part in politics. The Pakistan Stock Exchange which had peaked at 52,000 points in May 2017 crashed to around 40,000 within the next few weeks. The final ten months of the regime saw the government losing more authority every day because of Imran Khan led agitation, the military establishment and superior judiciary.

The nexus that had formed against the PML-N became visible for all to see when overnight the PML-N led government in Balochistan fell short of the majority as a new break-away group emerged against the party’s own Chief Minister. This group went on to form the new provincial government. All this was orchestrated to stop the PML-N from getting the majority in the Senate elections which were due in March 2018. To strangulate the regime, the superior Judiciary took Suo Moto notices on an unprecedented scale, nullifying government decisions ranging from routine policy matters to appointment of senior officials in organisations such as PEMRA and PTV. Over the last six months, federal ministers were found more often in the Supreme Court than their own offices, as the Chief Justice would keep summoning them over one case or another.

Had Imran Khan been more sporting in how he conducted himself as an opposition leader, and the military and judiciary remained within their constitutional bounds, today, our democracy and economy would be in a much better state. We have other problems as well, including a paltry $9 billion in forex reserves, a falling currency and rising debt.

The writer is a sociologist with an interest in history and politics. He tweets @ZulfiRao

Published in Daily Times, July 26^th 2018.