Will Imran Khan return stronger in the next polls?

Khan believes that he is emerging stronger out of the current political turmoil in the country, however, I think whoever wanted his removal has achieved their goal, irrespective of the fact wherever it was designed.

Currently, there are plans to ensure that PML-N does not emerge stronger in Punjab and efforts are also being made to make it happen. MNA Moonis Elahi recently revealed that in the coming days, if Pervaiz Elahi is elevated in Punjab as Chief Minister then election in the provinces would be held one and half years later but election for the Centre would be held sooner.

The opposition will not accept earlier election if they can make government in the Centre and in Punjab. Meanwhile, Khan is taking benefit of the situation as his workers are now very motived. However, in the long run he will also have to face the music. He believes that the people will forget about record high inflation and he will win the election if it is held sooner, but in my opinion, in our history once if someone was ousted they rarely were allowed to take the reigns of the government again.

There are also some talks about Presidential form of government in the country, as it is a presidential approach that when you realise the Parliament will vote against you, then you opt to dissolve the assembly. It seem entire system is being run for a single person.

In parliamentary system no-confidence motions are sometimes brought four times during the same term of the government in some countries.

I was not expecting Khan yto behave so senselessly. Declaring someone as a traitor and dissolving the assembly has been the tactic of Hitler.

If you want to become Hitler than it is not even presidential form of government which allows it but it is something far ahead of it.

Zafar Hilaly

Former ambassador

I believe that in backdrop of current political situation and the verdict of the Apex Court which has reversed the ruling of the National Assembly Deputy Speaker, many more things are expected to happen in the country which one would not desire to happened at the moment.

Having said that, in my opinion, the current situation suits Imran Khan. He is learning about the politics of turncoats in his party and this is an ongoing process. Due to Khan’s stance on the sovereignty there has been a change in the political landscape of the country. I believe he will move ahead with better understanding.

As the political situation is shifting from one side to another the MQM-P has proven itself to be a despicable party. As far as the matter of threat letter is concerned, the National Security Committee has admitted that the US blatantly intervened in our matters.

People know it well that US has done so in the past and I would say this process had started in October last year, long ago before the current political turmoil. I think Khan has emerged as a popular figure out of this situation and in case of election he will achieve a solid majority in the National Assembly.

As far as democratic process is concerned – there is nothing like democracy here. These parties are dynastic parties. Entire family members seem part and parcel of their respective parties. We need to change our political system to one which suits us, we need presidential form of government. We must bring in drastic changes.

There must be also be changes in judicial system of the country. There are issues with regard to appointment of judges in our judiciary. We need reforms. We need a strong change in the tide to resolve all these issues.

DR Huma Baqai

Political analyst

Everyone is now talking about holding of fresh election but this is not something which is so easy in the current circumstances. In my opinion there are issues of delimitations in Sindh and this province is also facing issues regarding census. Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), on the other hand, are facing the issues with regards to law and order.

And at the same time political scenario in Punjab is not favouring Imran Khan. The PML-N has made a strong comeback in Punjab and it is confident that it would make the government in Punjab soon. As far as fresh elections are concerned I don’t think that Khan would emerge with a thumping majority. However, in my opinion, while his rule time might be over in the country but his politics isn’t. Imran Khan has learnt a lot during the past four years from his mistakes. By taking advantage of this learning if it goes into election then it seems to me that it would emerge as a solid opposition, if it does not come into power which is a good thing.

Earlier I used to say that PTI is a political party which has a lot of leaders but it has no political worker. Now I would like to comment as a political scientist that the PTI also needs to understand that holding large political gatherings is something else and governing is something different. Khan opted to do politics by leveraging electables, but it caused numerous issues.

As a political analyst I believe the democratic process in the country has strengthened and become mature. At the same time, this ongoing political crisis has revealed how a political system can be exploited and how one can stop this exploitation.

There is a Chinese curse, ‘you may live an interesting time.’ I think Pakistan is going through a very interesting time.

Dr Farrukh Atta Chaudhry
Political analyst

I have been thinking for the past many days about why things went wrong against Imran Khan and what were the reasons which actually caused this political crisis in the country.

To my understanding Khan’s stance of ‘absolutely not’ against the wish of the US has been the main factor behind his apparent ousting. Khan had opted to stay neutral on the Afghan matter and he refused to hand over any military bases to US forces. This approach was not welcomed by international forces open-mindedly and they started hatching conspiracies against him. He refused to abide by the demands of international power.

He started developing independent foreign policy and started exploring new allies which could serve Pakistan’s best interests.
When the no-trust motion was moved against him in the National Assembly, then another sort of Chhanga Manga was organized in Sindh House and no one paid any attention towards it. No institutions took it as violation of any sort.

I believe when it was the right time to support Khan for the independence and sovereignty of the country, he was left alone, apparently to serve the foreign agenda, consciously or unconsciously. How can the politics of the nation continue positively and system be run if there is such a heavy price for serving the country’s own interest? Previously it looked like that all were on one page but now it seems that everybody is attempting to save their own skin at the cost of Khan’s sacrifice.

However, the people are not naïve and can understand the exact situation. The people know it well that Imran Khan is paying the price of making the country free from the clutches of international forces. In my opinion he is emerging as stronger and more popular out of the current crisis.