New
year may bring an end to Naya Pakistan, IMAD ZAFAR
The witch-hunt
against the opposition is the only thing the hybrid regime in Pakistan is
capable of. Ever since the government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf was installed
by the military establishment, its only achievement has been arrests of its
political opponents. PTI is a bunch of right-wing traditional status quo
politicians who are famous for changing their loyalties as soon the winds
change or a new signal is given by the establishment. Other than using the
National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as a tool to victimize its political
opponents, the PTI government and its backers have achieved nothing.
The new year according to many political insiders will bring an
end to the unsuccessful Naya Pakistan project,
which was aimed at running the country from behind the curtains with Prime
Minister Imran Khan as its public face.
George Orwell in his famous novel Animal Farm wrote, “All animals are equal, but
some animals are more equal than others.” This is exactly the case in Pakistan,
where members of opposition parties are considered less equal than the
opportunist politicians who are working as the face of the current hybrid
martial law in Pakistan.
On Monday the NAB
arrested Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) secretary general Ahsan
Iqbal on charges of corruption involving
the Narowal Sports City complex. Iqbal, who is famous for his intellectual
ability and insights on policy matters and the China-Pakistan Economic
Corridor, is not the first to be arrested by the NAB on unproven charges of
corruption. There is a long list of dissenting politicians who have been sent
behind bars, while Prime Minister Imran Khan claims that he is fulfilling his
promise of accountability for all.
However,
this is not the case; Khan himself knows that he is gradually walking on the
path of self-destruction, and eventually this artificial political discourse
has to meet its logical end by collapsing because of poor governance, lack of
ability to address economic and political turmoil, and an unsuccessful foreign
policy, which not only resulted in no international support on the Kashmir
fiasco but also gave an opportunity to Riyadh to assert its control.
Khan’s
backers, weakened by dissent within and after recently retired chief justice
Asif Saeed Khosa demolishing the political
hegemony of the establishment, now have very limited options
for the establishment to turn the tide back in its favor. Given the PML-N’s
silence and Pakistan Peoples Party’s diplomatic stance, the opposition parties
are no threat to the establishment, but the uncontrollable crisis of governance
and moving in a direction that has no ultimate objective other than to keep
this artificial political discourse intact at any cost are more than enough to
scuttle this hybrid regime.
The PTI
government on Monday also refused to give permission to
the PPP to hold a public memorial in Rawalpindi on the death anniversary
of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on December 27. And a few days ago the
NAB also summoned PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto, who refused to appear. The
recent arrest of Ahsan Iqbal, a man widely respected for his political acumen
and wisdom, and not allowing the PPP to stage a public gathering in memory of
Benazir Bhutto, are clear indications that Khan lacks the ability to rise above
personal grudges and that he is the new version of the late military dictator
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, who was famous for not rising above petty politics.
Since Khan
has a fan club that was created by the establishment through organized
propaganda and remains brainwashed, right now the only thing he is hearing is
the applause and jubilation of blind followers. Perhaps somewhere in their
jubilation Khan is seeking refuge from his dismal performance in governance and
his negligence that eventually brought Pakistan under the indirect control of
Saudi Arabia.
The
opposition, which lacks the guts to dismantle this hybrid regime once and for
all, is trying its best to mend fences with the establishment, despite its
members being sent to prison one by one. However, the dissenting voices from
civil society and a large segment of the masses are becoming louder and louder.
This presents a gloomy picture for the powers that be who are controlling the
country through sloganeering as the sole defenders of the country’s ideological
borders and shaping the political discourse in the name of patriotism. This
propaganda is not salable any more to those who are gradually becoming aware of
the visible and invisible dynamics of the political history of Pakistan and do
not believe the state narratives.
Perhaps the
establishment and Khan can live with their respective fan clubs in the illusion
that everything is all right, but the reality is not going to change, the
reality that is gradually opening the eyes of many. Reality is destroying the
false narratives of the establishment and proving each and every promise of
Khan wrong, as he has only sold the old formula of accountability and promised
the masses that he had a magic wand that would solve all their problems within
days or months.
The elite and upper middle class, joined by
those who lack the basic skills of critical thinking, can prolong the process
leading to the fall of this hybrid regime, but they cannot stop the inevitable
– the end of this regime sooner or later, with the establishment narrative of
ruling this country from behind the scenes finally dying. No amount of
propaganda or fascist measures like sending opposition members to prison and
silencing the dissenting voices can stop this downfall.
The economy
was always the key factor in deciding the outcome of this battle, and despite
the propaganda, it is sinking at a very alarming pace, with one of the lowest economic growth rates (2.8%)
and highest inflation rates (12%) in South Asia.
Contrary to
what many analysts predict, that the PTI government itself wants to get rid of
Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, and that is why it is
launching a fresh crackdown against the opposition so legislation on the
extension of his tenure as COAS cannot be passed in parliament, the situation
is completely different. Imran Khan and the current bigwigs of the
establishment are lifelines for each other. If Bajwa departs as a result of not
getting an extension of his tenure, it will be game over for Khan, as the new
high command in the military establishment will end his Naya
Pakistan project.
This will
not end the political hegemony of the establishment, but shutting down Naya
Pakistan by the new army chief or even by Bajwa himself will eventually weaken
the grip of the establishment on the political chessboard. The question is: How
many years will be needed to repair the damage caused by this failed
experiment, and when will the establishment finally will go back to its
constitutional role and leave the affairs of state to the political players?
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