The govt is using every trick to do away with Imran Khan, making for a potentially dangerous situation

The PML-N government is using every trick in the political manual to do away with Imran Khan and the PTI, making for a potentially dangerous situation.

Tidings from Islamabad are ominous. The Shehbaz Sharif government, jolted by the loss of its power base, the Punjab, to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), is all out to exert maximum pressure on former premier Imran Khan and his close aides through a string of mostly frivolous cases — from the alleged foreign funding and Toshakhana ones, to cases of  treason and sedition.

The most dangerous development, however,  is Shehbaz Sharif’s government’s attempt to use the Pakistan Armed Forces against the PTI – the only genuine federal political party with roots and a following across Pakistan. This apprehension is also being highlighted by the PTI Chairman Imran Khan, who has categorically talked about a conspiracy to pitch his party against the army.

These attempts by the government are intensifying political uncertainty and confrontation at a time when Pakistan faces unprecedented economic challenges and the capacity and ability of the state institutions to manage the twin crises is being tested to the hilt.

All this notwithstanding, given the fact that the PTI in its essence remains a staunch federalist party, its senior leaders have been working overtime to maintain the delicate balance of highlighting their grievances without undermining any of the state institutions. This is unlike the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) which, whenever it is in power or thrown out of it, misses no opportunity to directly attack the institution and tarnish the image of its top tier.

PTI sources say that while the party is bracing itself for the expected government-sponsored witch-hunt, there is no contact between their leadership and the military establishment. “On principle, we only want to bank on the party’s public support, expecting that all the institutions will stay impartial and act fairly in the PTI versus the rest melee,” said one official, requesting anonymity.

There are also attempts by the government to bar Imran Khan from contesting the elections and holding any public office – which if materialised, could turn into an explosive situation across the country.

PTI officials say that public support and pressure remain their only defensive and offensive strategy. The PTI is all set to once again go for a series of massive public rallies spanning over four to five weeks to demand fresh elections, disclosed PTI officials. “If the demand is not accepted even after the deadline, then we will be left with no option other than to call general strikes and resort to agitation,” stated one of them.

Ironically, many analysts had anticipated a lowering of the political temperature after the ouster of the PML-N led government from the Punjab. Soon after the Punjab victory, PTI officials had declared that their party would like to concentrate on public welfare through the Ehsas programme and Health card scheme, both in the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhawa, without dropping their demand for early elections. And at that time, the PTI leaders had ruled out any immediate plans to launch a protest movement.

But the Shehbaz government upped the ante for political tension, as the PML-N fears that with a politician like Pervaiz Elhai at the helm of affairs as chief minister of the province, he will inflict irreversible damage to their party. Therefore, the politics of confrontation are back at centrestage.

Another factor which is set to whip up political tensions is the Shehbaz government’s attempt to bring back disgraced and convicted former premier Nawaz Sharif into mainstream politics.

PML-N sources say that they want Nawaz Sharif back in Pakistan as a free man as early as September or October this year. “We will try to get his (Nawaz Sharif’s) conviction overturned through the judiciary or the parliament,” said a member of the party.

If this happens it would not just work as a catalyst in creating more friction and conflict in Pakistan’s political milieu. It would also be seen as a snub to Pakistan’s judicial system, as well as to the state institutions that worked together to ensure the ouster of Nawaz Sharif from power on corruption after the Panama Scandal hit headlines globally.

Although the military leadership has announced neutrality in all political tussles, many Pakistanis believe that being the country’s most organised, modern and strong institution, it is its leadership’s primary responsibility to help resolve the political impasse.

In the country’s 75-year long history, the military has always been seen as the ultimate fallback by mainstream Pakistan during any crisis situation, including political ones. And the military leadership has taken on these challenges both through direct and indirect interventions.

The country’s current political instability, which is unprecedented in many ways, calls for putting an end to it on a war footing. For this, the military and the judiciary are seen as final arbitrators because the Parliament has lost its respect and credibility against the backdrop of the controversial change brought about in the government. Following the ouster of Imran Khan, more than 120 PTI members resigned from the National Assembly, rendering it incomplete. To make the situation worse, the National Assembly resorted to one-sided law-making by amending the National Accountability Bureau laws with an aim to benefit politicians accused of corruption, in which the PML-N is the biggest beneficiary.

Any attempts to enact person-specific amendments to revive Nawaz Sharif‘s political fortunes would further undermine the Parliament, widen Pakistan’s political divide and intensify conflict.

The PTI, which claims to fight to win genuine freedom and sovereignty for the country, say that sea-changes are being brought about in Pakistan’s foreign policy, as the country is again being pushed under the US-umbrella at the cost of close ties with China. “There is a reversal in foreign policy at every level,” claimed a PTI official.

The PML-N claims that Pakistan’s relations with China have never been better, but at the same time its government is working to mend fences with the West.

As Pakistan’s key political players remain at loggerheads and are unable to resolve their contradictions through a political process, each one of them is trying to influence and win the support of the institutions, especially the army. Apparently, at least for now, the PML-N and its allies have an edge over the PTI on this front, but the former ruling party says that the institutions cannot go against the will of the masses, which is reflected by Imran Khan’s popularity.

In a nutshell, the military leaders now find themselves in a position where they will have to call the shots publicly and in a more pronounced manner. That would prove a make or  break for many of the country’s key political players and could set the country’s direction – for better or for worse – in the near to mid-term.