Daily Times

How much Imran Khan loves being in power and clinging to it–for which he has made a myriad of compromises and even accepted the support of alleged dacoits, thieves, carpet baggers and political free-loaders–was manifested by the unconstitutional steps taken by his government, including the ruling by the deputy speaker to reject the no-confidence motion and the reaction to the decision of the apex court to declare the whole episode as a blatant violation of the constitution. These actions were a ranting testimony of the fact that the man had no respect for the judiciary, which is the most sanctimonious pillar of the state.

Yet another manifestation of that mindset was the “punk-terrorism” enacted by members of PTI and PML(Q) in the provincial assembly of Punjab, tearing apart the LHC decision to ensure an unhindered election process to choose the new Chief Minister. Even the devil must have had a good laugh at that satanic misadventure seen by the entire nation as well as the world community live on the TV screens. It was an unprecedented act of shame. The mastermind of it surely was Imran Khan who seems determined to thwart the legitimate and constitutional actions of his political opponents by hook and crook.

Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, a Prussian and German statesman who oversaw the unification of Germany while serving as Minister-President of Prussia from 1862–90, said “Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable — the art of the next best.”

Even the devil must have had a good laugh at that satanic misadventure seen by the entire world live on TV screens.

It implies that the politicians should not resort to doing things, which are impossible and be invariably on the lookout for the best possible alternatives. But unfortunately, our politicians have been acting quite to the contrary. They have been trying the worst possible things. The country owes it to their shenanigans the situation in which it finds itself at the moment. The tragedy is they refuse to learn from history and their blunders. Their ultimate aim is to clinch political power without the legitimacy of the means, even at the cost of the well-being of the masses and vital national interests.

Imran Khan is an unenviable addition to the traditional demagogues and power hunters who has introduced an element of violence and false narratives to the political culture of the country for achieving his narrow political agenda. The memories of his false rhetoric regarding 35 punctures, which, in the end, he admitted to being only a political talk, are still fresh in the minds of the people. The amount of political turmoil and instability that he fomented by stoking this false narrative into a political issue caused unfathomable harm to the national political fabric.

Now under the backdrop of his exit from power as a result of a no-confidence motion by the opposition parties, he is desperately trying to sell the narrative that his removal was a sequel to an international conspiracy spearheaded by the US in connivance with the parties representing PDM. The thrust of his campaign is that the US has conspired for his ouster for the reason that he wanted to pursue an independent foreign policy and had said absolutely not to the US request for bases on Pakistani soil. In the context of the political stalemate before his exit, he has been contending that Army leadership had offered three alternatives to him to break the impasse. It is pertinent to inform the readers that like his claim of 35 punctures the foregoing narratives are also without any substance.

The press conference by DG ISPR on April 14 has set the record straight in this regard. He denied that the military leadership in the NSC meeting had subscribed to the conspiracy theory and that is why in the statement issued after the huddle there was no mention of conspiracy in it. He refuted the claim that the US had asked for bases in Pakistan. He also called out Imran’s claim of alternatives offered by the establishment saying that it was the Prime Minister who called the COAS and DG ISI to help in resolving the tangle and it was in that meeting the three alternatives came under discussion. The foregoing clarifications by the establishment amply reveal to what extent the man can go to twist and concoct facts for the furtherance of his political objectives and to mislead the masses.

The most regrettable aspect of the campaign launched by Imran Khan and his party after the success of the no-confidence motion is that a deliberate attempt has been unfurled to heap scorn on the judiciary and malign the establishment. No wonder the Corps commanders’ meeting took a serious view of the attempts to malign the Army.

As if the foregoing narratives were not enough to mislead the masses, he has now come up with yet another claim of conspiracy against him. Speaking at a public rally at Karachi, he expressed the apprehension that a conspiracy was being hatched to drive him out of politics through the PTI funding case. It sounds the most preposterous suggestion in view of the fact that the petition was filed in ECP by one of PTI’s founding members in November 2014 when Imran was not in power. As the proverb goes ‘an enemy under the guise of a friend is very dangerous’ Akbar S Babar being savvy of the funding saga reported it to the ECP when he fell out with the party leadership.

The case has lingered on and during his power stint, he made sure to have the verdict delayed indefinitely. However, after repeated pleas by the filer of the petition the IHC has now directed the ECP to announce its verdict within 30 days. As per the details that have emerged during the hearing of the case, the PTI seems guilty of hiding its accounts through which it received foreign funding as per the information provided by the state bank of Pakistan. Knowing the reality and anticipating the verdict to go against him, Imran is trying to pollute the minds of his followers with yet another false conspiracy theory.

Imran has a considerable following in the country, particularly among the youth. He should use that strength for the furtherance of national interests and refrain from divisive politics and polarizing society. He should pursue his politics honestly in conformity with the rules of the game and within the domain of the constitution. He also needs to dilate on foreign relations with utmost care and weigh the consequences of committing the indiscretion of falsely accusing a superpower of hatching a conspiracy against him. His followers also must give serious thought to the ground realities in the larger national interest.

The writer is a former diplomat and freelance columnist.