The first 100 days of Imran Khan’s ‘democratic’ government have not given the common man a single thing to cheer about.
There is a very real fear in Pakistan that a celebrity cricketer-turned-PM has been selected to achieve certain targets of the military.
The whispers about the Pakistani military establishment wanting to do away with the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which made Pakistan a parliamentary republic, are only getting shriller.
Opposition leader and chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto has more than once declared that there will be no compromise on the rights granted to people under the 18thAmendment. “Don’t you dare!” he had thundered in a speech in the assembly last October.
But those who know Imran Khan well should hardly be surprised by his ways.
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Imran, the cricketing hero, was wooed by military dictators like Zia-ul-Haq and Pervez Musharraf. Even Nawaz Sharif offered him a position in his government back in the days when he was friends with the military establishment.
Im, however, was never that dim, as the tabloids nicknamed him, to take the crumbs when he could take an entire portion of the cake. He always had big plans and never settled for such offers to join the government of the day. In his desire to climb to the top, he did not mind shaking hands with the establishment.
We kept telling him that the establishment has never loved anyone so much that they would agree to share the cake.
Had that been the case Zulfiqar Bhutto, the original ladla (darling) of the establishment, who was a natural politician and a pro at foreign diplomacy, would not have had only one shot at power and then sent to the gallows.
Even an anti-Ahmediya law could not save the charismatic leader who dreamt of leading the Ummah (or community) far before Imran had even considered politics as a career.
Imran and his followers must snap out of the delusion because many have been loved and ditched before him.
Nawaz Sharif was once the sweetheart too. Let’s remind Imran that Zia-ul-Haq did not even get a natural death despite being one of them.
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I recently read with a wry smile a poorly-written article in the newly disciplined Daily Jang on how Imran Khan should follow in Turkish president Erdogan’s steps.
Who would know better than me that how tempting the absolute power model of Erdogan is to Imran.
There are of course a lot of obvious personality differences between the two men but the missing link is not the fact that the Turkish leader is genuinely a devout observant Muslim while the cricketer PM is a ‘photoshopped’ version.
All those who are trembling at the thought of Imran Khan heading a presidential set up for 10 years forget the most important fact that got Erdogan this far – an unshakeable support base in Istanbul.
While Erdogan brought hope for the slum-dwellers in Istanbul, Imran is the darling of land grabbers and white-collared criminals.
The first 100 days of Imran Khan’s ‘democratic’ government have not given the common man a single thing to cheer about.
The government’s votaries have gone on record stating that parliamentary democracy doesn’t suit Pakistan.
Pro-democracy voices, also referred to as traitors by the establishment, suggest that since the only way to ensure a presidential system is to do away with the 1973 Constitution, the powers that be should also do away with the tag of an Islamic Republic for Pakistan.
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The popular sentiment in provinces like Punjab is that further instability will rile people up. Traders and industrialists in Punjab are saying that they have had enough of tabdeeli (change). Punjab wants to get back to business.
With people in Pakistan already showing signs of frustration with the new government, the question to ask is: how long can an anti-people, pro-establishment government last?
My view is that nothing short of a takeover will give the establishment what they want, which is absolute power. This pretence of a democracy cannot work in Pakistan. The establishment might as well take their masks off.
Even Nawaz Sharif must be wondering if this is how the ‘Pindi boys’ would drag their feet about achieving complete dominance, then Mujhey kyun nikala (Why was I removed)?
Reham Khan is a journalist, child rights activist, and single parent in Pakistan. She authored ‘Reham Khan’, an autobiography.