In Pakistan, a de facto nuclear-armed state, there are growing signs of a sharp deterioration in the domestic political situation.

Generally speaking, it is not easy to identify a period of at least a few years in Pakistan’s domestic political life over the past two to three decades that could not be defined as a “crisis” or similar term. The most recent such period began in the spring of 2022, when the government of Imran Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were ousted (a year before the end of the calendar year).

As I. Khan and the PTI leaders had questions (which they felt were not answered convincingly) about the procedure of such a removal, and the former Prime Minister himself remained popular among the people, it was to be expected that mass protests would begin, sometimes leading to undesirable excesses. The latter, in turn, served as an excuse for I. Khan’s political opponents, who had come to power, to put him (as well as other prominent PTI functionaries) behind bars. In addition to the charge of “sedition”, the former prime minister was charged with at least a dozen other offences. Some of these have recently been dropped, but the remaining charges against Mr Khan himself, his wife and a number of PTI officials remain in prison.

Under these circumstances, another general election was held on 8 February this year (albeit at least six months out of sync with the calendar), which resulted in a coalition led by the Pakistan Muslim League (N) being declared the winner. As a result, Shehbaz Sharif (the younger brother of the party’s founder, Nawaz), who replaced I. Khan as prime minister, was stripped of his “acting” title.

There now seems to be nothing standing in the way of concerted action between parliament and the government to implement the inevitably painful economic reforms. This, incidentally, is a sine qua non for the IMF to release the much-needed “tranches” to the country. But as it has turned out, the “plume” from the last elections has not been overcome and the balance of power in parliament threatens to shift dramatically against the ruling coalition.

Supreme Court ruling on “reserve” parliamentary seats

This refers to the Supreme Court’s ruling of 12 July on the PTI affiliation of 39 MPs who had to stand as........

© New Eastern Outlook