Imran Khan's megalomania threatens to unveil Pakistan's deep-seated wounds

Resigned to a rhetorical swipe of defiance, it’s now apparent Asad Qaiser’s final words as speaker achieved their desired effect: to the streets he plead, and to the streets they dutifully came.

A bruising constitutional crisis now threatens to bleed out; the ghosts of Pakistan's history once again exhumed. But this matters not for Imran Khan and his diminished parliamentary minority, their minds had long been made.

In their millions, Khan’s inconsolable defenders lined the streets of Pakistan, Dubai, Doha, even London. Blindly, they’ve promised to fight the no-confidence ruling like ‘cornered tigers’, just as their captain had done in 1992. But this isn’t cricket, Pakistani politics is far from a ‘gentlemen’s game’, and history will not remember their involvement in this chaotic saga kindly.

"Khan’s attempt to revive the Doctrine of Necessity – enabling him to act extraconstitutionally to retain power under the pretext of stability – has been thankfully defeated. For now, the republic lives to fight another day"

Imran Khan wanted a popular revolution, but up until November 2021 was on the same page as the only institution in Pakistan that actually works, the Pakistani Armed Forces.

Why trust an undemocratic patron that acts as a state within a state if one professes democratic consciousness? Why extend General Bajwa’s contract as Pakistan Army chief by three years – the very same figure Khan now accuses of being instrumental in his demise? Why cry foul now?

Imran Khan wanted the Pakistani people to believe his cries of foreign meddling, and yet evidence to date is sparse.

An unseen letter alleges Donald Lu, assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian Affairs, has warned of ‘consequences’ for Khan’s warming to Russia and refusal to condemn its invasion of Ukraine.

Until this letter is released, all this is is an inexpensive and potentially catastrophic ploy to whip up dark forces within Pakistan - those willing to trample upon people, policies, and the constitution to prove that Pakistan is (rightly or otherwise) at the whim of hegemonic dominance.

It hasn’t taken much in the past; it may yet take much now. Khan's departure continues Pakistan's unenviable record of no civilian government completing a full term in office. 

In this seemingly unending wave of political pandemonium, the first casualty is truth, the second is nuance, the third is stability.

Instead what Imran Khan and his Tehreek-e-Insaf party chose to do is orchestrate a blundering attempt to undermine Pakistan’s constitution. Akin to a man willing to burn his own house down, Khan’s attempt to revive the Doctrine of Necessity – enabling him to act extraconstitutionally to retain power under the pretext of stability – has been thankfully defeated. For now, the republic lives to fight another day.

Meanwhile, a motley crew of dynastic opportunists sit in the wings of Islamabad, gearing up to grasp power once more. Make no mistake, as the PPP and the PLM-N have proven time and time again, they aren’t the good guys either; this arranged marriage of convenience serves only to oust Khan and retain control of what they view as rightfully theirs.

"Whilst there have been very serious elements of discontinuity at the top over the past few days, there have been strong elements of continuity. In Pakistan, if you wear Ceasar’s clothes, you have to behave like Caesar"

Their purported neutrality in constitutional matters suitably coincided with Khan being in the wrong and converged with their own interests and machinations. This is no new dawn, no Purana Pakistan as PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said with dystopian delight to the National Assembly.

So whilst there have been very serious elements of discontinuity at the top over the past few days, there have been strong elements of continuity. In Pakistan, if you wear Ceasar’s clothes, you have to behave like Caesar.

PTI supporters are now experiencing this first-hand. Just as they had done themselves, the new government will target their activists through raids and forced disappearances, charges of sedition will become the norm. This is the sad, if predictable, consequence of political loyalty.

With Shehbaz Sharif, brother of three-time prime minister and convicted felon Nawaz Sharif having just been announced as Pakistan’s new prime minister, Shehbaz inherits a Pakistan in the midst of a balance of payments and currency crisis, with petrol and gasoline prices skyrocketing in recent months. How long can he evade accountability for these issues? Will Khan let him? Will the Army let him?

Distrust will continue to run deep. For too long ordinary lives have been blighted by policies that neglect human potential, with investment in health, education, gender equality and the environment callously side-lined by successive governments.

As the old faces waddle back into the annals of history with glee, blinded by arrogance and ignorant in their belief that the Pakistani masses have forgotten their past, they haven’t. And so if there is one positive to take from this unfortunate series of events, it is the hope that - with the constitution upheld - the masses can remain the sole determinant for the fate of the nation, not some last chance politician, family dynasty or military institution.

Benjamin Ashraf is a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Jordan’s Center for Strategic Studies. He is also part of The New Arab’s Editorial Team.

Follow him on Twitter: @ashrafzeneca

Have questions or comments? Email us at: editorial-english@alaraby.co.uk.

Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The New Arab, its editorial board or staff.