A Failed State Trying to Become a Democracy
The Pakistani government announced today that it intends to dissolve the former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). The Information Minister of Pakistan stated today:The Pakistani government plans to use a constitutional clause to ban PTI. The process works in such a way that the government can declare that a party is harmful to Pakistan’s sovereignty or integrity and is a threat to the country. However, after making the announcement, the government must present the case before the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The final decision will then be in the hands of the court, which will determine whether the party is indeed a threat to Pakistan or not. Therefore, unless the government has strong evidence, this move is likely to fail.Now, Islamabad claims they have reliable evidence, but this should be viewed with skepticism. The Pakistani government has been systematically trying to crush PTI for months. Its leader, former Prime Minister Imran Khan, is currently in jail. He has been imprisoned since last August and faces numerous charges. More than 150 cases have been registered against him. He was accused of revealing state secrets, illegally selling state gifts, and conducting his third marriage unlawfully. However, all these charges have either been annulled or suspended. He should have been out of jail by now, but every time he gets bail, he is re-arrested in one of the over 150 cases. Therefore, the persecution against him continues. The next step will be the charge of treason. The Pakistani government will soon file this charge. So Imran Khan is facing these issues while his party fights its own battles. PTI was not allowed to participate in the last elections. Remember the elections held in January. But the party found a loophole. PTI candidates contested as independent candidates and won most of the seats. However, they did not win a clear majority, and the second and third parties formed a coalition government and are ruling Pakistan. PTI, Imran Khan’s party, is still the largest opposition party in Pakistan’s parliament, and Imran Khan is still among the most popular leaders in the country, if not the most popular. But Khan and his party were pushed to the edge until two things happened last Friday. There were two decisions by Pakistani courts. The first was about PTI, Imran Khan’s party. I mentioned that the party was not allowed to participate in the January elections. So the candidates contested as independents and won most of the parliamentary seats. But there was a major obstacle. Pakistan reserves some seats for women and minorities, and these reserved seats are allocated to parties based on their proportion of votes after the elections. But PTI candidates had contested as independents, so the party was not given a share of the reserved seats. On Friday, the Supreme Court of Pakistan corrected this. PTI, as a parliamentary party, is entitled to reserved seats. The court ruled that PTI is eligible for reserved seats. This increased the party’s status in parliament. PTI still does not have a majority, but it has narrowed the gap with the ruling coalition. And this is a threat to a government whose legitimacy has always been in question. So this was a decision that came in favor of PTI. The second decision came within 24 hours, on Saturday. A court acquitted Imran Khan and his wife in the unlawful marriage case. This was the last conviction against Imran Khan and his wife, and it was annulled as well. Both should have been released from jail after this. In fact, Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi was close to being released from jail, but she was re-arrested at the last moment on some other charges. So you can see how close Imran Khan was to getting out of jail and how his party was strengthened by the courts. This is why the Pakistani government is panicking and trying to ban PTI. It is a desperate move, a final attempt to crush its biggest enemy. But will Islamabad succeed, or should we say Rawalpindi? This is a contest worth watching.