Imran’s fate as the Pakistan PM is all but sealed but he’s fighting on

Even as India becomes increasingly influential globally and a virtual hub for world leaders from across the spectrum to have a stopover here in New Delhi, the mood and situation in Islamabad grows from worse to despondent. It’s barely an escape yet for Prime Minister Imran Khan after facing immense heat to resign ahead of the no-confidence vote as he has reportedly lost majority in the National Assembly. Putting up a brave face in his late-night address to the nation, however, he called it “a defining moment” for Pakistan. A squeamish Imran alleged that the “foreign hand” was behind the act of sabotaging his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Government. He also blamed the “three stooges working at the behest of foreign powers” — meaning key Opposition leaders Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) president Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan People’s Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Pakistan Democratic Movement chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman. Accused of mismanaging the economy and foreign policy, particularly by way of damaging relations with the US, Imran indicated he won’t be cowed: “I won’t resign; I will play till the last ball.”

The situation had started unravelling when Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa had a difference of opinion with Imran on appointing the new chief to Pakistan’s powerful spy agency, the ISI. Interestingly, Imran himself has been seen to be too cosy with the Army Generals despite his promise of ushering in a ‘Naya Pakistan’ that would be free of corruption and nepotism following his election win in 2018. Meanwhile, Shehbaz Sharif, whose brother and former Prime Minister Nawaz is in self-exile in the United Kingdom after being convicted in a corruption case he claims is politically motivated, is the man most favoured at the moment to become the next Premier of Pakistan. Even PPP chairman Bilawal has endorsed Shehbaz’s name. Already, a few independent lawmakers as well as Imran’s allies Balochistan Awami Party and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan have withdrawn support to Imran’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Government. Shehbaz’s road map in office is to improve Pakistan’s ties with the United States and the European Union, ostensibly to match and counter India’s influence in these spheres. In what could possibly be a shape of things to come, he has also claimed that the otherwise ubiquitous Pakistan Army has been “staying neutral” ahead of the confidence vote, which is good news for him at least for the time being.