20th Nov, 2022. 09:05 am

Finding the middle ground

Pakistan is on the verge of default on foreign debt repayments but the Shehbaz Sharif government appears more intent on character assassination of Imran Khan than addressing the country’s core economic problems, which have compounded since the change of guard in Islamabad in April this year.

The coalition government, its sponsors and cheerleaders in the media – all appear oblivious of the fact that Pakistan is in crisis as they try 24/7 to portray Imran Khan as the one and only evil, who needs to be crushed and thrown out of the political arena by hook or by crook.

In their zeal to destroy Imran and his brand of politics, non-issues are being presented as the core problems of Pakistan.  The latest example of this obsession with the PTI chief is the alleged Toshakhana case which is being given a new hype.

However, there is no point in beating a dead horse.

Despite all the propaganda of the government and its allied media, the former premier Imran Khan remains unscathed as his growing number of followers see him as the one and only Mr Clean of Pakistani politics.

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But those at the helm fail to read the writing on the wall.

Instead of seeking a way through the country’s political logjam and finding a middle ground, they continue to bet on those corruption-tainted politicians who are responsible for the plight of the country. This explains the unprecedented public reaction against the new political set-up.

The situation is becoming more and more grim and unsustainable every day. If someone anywhere thinks that Pakistan can be run like this till August-September 2023 then either he is living in a fool’s paradise or deliberately trying to damage the country.

The Shehbaz government has proved in the last seven months that it is neither capable to handle the economic challenges nor it can resolve the political crisis on its own.

The dismal macro-economic numbers, including Pakistan’s growing chances of default, are enough to expose Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who was being presented by the Sharif clan as the remedy of all the ills. But Dar failed to perform any miracles.

On the political front, rather than engaging with the opposition in a bid to ease tensions, the government is adding fuel to an already raging fire. Imran Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf are not just the target of a smear campaign but many of its key leaders are being hounded and victimized.

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Imran Khan, himself faced a failed assassination attempt, but instead of sympathizing with the victim, the PML-N stalwarts tried to paint the attack as fake and questioned whether the former premier really got wounded.

This forced Imran Khan to show his wounds to the world, underlining how low the Sharif clan and its aides have stooped in their political rivalry.

And then what happened with Senator Azam Swati and Shehbaz Gill is another sordid chapter in the history of the PML-N’s rule, which also has gone all out to target independent media and dissenting voices.

The martyrdom of Arshad Sharif, the arrest and manhandling of Imran Riaz Khan and Jamil Faruqi, the threats issued to Sami Ibrahim and many other veteran journalists show how the PML-N treats the free press. During its past three stints in power, the PML-N resorted to similar draconian tactics against the press.

The Bol Media Group has suffered the most under the previous and the current PML-N governments. It is no coincidence that Arshad Sharif had signed a contract with Bol News for a prime time current affairs show, while most of those who got victimized – Imran Riaz Khan, Sami Ibrahim and Jamil Faruqi – all are the leading faces of Bol News.

The Shehbaz-led government’s frontal attacks on the opposition, the press, and the civil society show that not just democratic values, but democracy itself is under attack in Pakistan.

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Under these circumstances, it is the responsibility of the institutions, particularly the Pakistan Army, to intervene on behalf of the people of Pakistan and save the system by forcing the key political players to come to the middle ground.

The Pakistan Army should act in line with the aspirations of the people and ensure that the country is pulled out of this crisis. And the only practical way to do this is to install a caretaker government at the earliest which can take the country to the polls by April or May 2023.

This is the only way to lead Pakistan out of this blind alley. Many Pakistanis are looking towards the Pakistan Army to save the day. The sooner it acts, the better it will be for Pakistan and the system.

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