In a wide-ranging conversation with journalists, leaders of the business community, and foreign diplomats at a dinner in Karachi recently, President Arif Alvi reportedly conceded that General Bajwa had helped PTI in the 2018 general elections and subsequently in the senate elections. This confession corroborates the allegations of the opposition parties that Imran Khan was catapulted to the august office of Prime Minister by the establishment and then also helped his party win the election for Senate Chairman. This could not have been possible without manipulating the results in the general elections and also coercing senators to vote for the PTI candidate for Chairman Senate. Another inference that can be safely drawn from the foregoing revelation by the President is that Imran was part of this sinister game right from the beginning. The epithet of ‘selected’ conferred on him by the opposition parties stands vindicated.
It also constitutes a slap on Imran’s face who has been claiming self-righteousness from every convenient roof-top and those pseudo-intellectuals who have been making strenuous efforts to project him as the only ‘conscientious’ political leader in the country. What a shame! Can any conscientious person ever think of joining a conspiracy and acting as a puppet of the string pullers? Surely not. During his three and half years of rule, he proved to be a big disappointment as he not only failed to come up to the expectations of those who made him the Chief Executive of the country but also played havoc with the economy. National debt swelled from Rs.30, 000 billion to Rs.60,000; Circular debt which was Rs.1100 billion in 2018 sky-rocketed to Rs.2.5 trillion; In the gas sector, circular debt stood at Rs.350 billion in 2018 which rose to Rs.1.4 trillion in April 2022; PSO circular debt of Rs.200 billion in 2018 increased to Rs.650 billion; Trade deficit that stood at $37.3 billion in 2018 has snow-balled to $ 45 billion which is the highest ever in Pakistan’s 75 years history; Budget deficit increased to Rs.5500 billion by April 2022 which again was highest in our entire history.
Rehabilitation of flood-hit people big challenge, says PM He defied democratic traditions by refusing to have working relations with the opposition and ruled through the promulgation of presidential ordinances rather than legislation by the parliament. His egoistic approach eroded the prestige of the parliament. Not only that, he used NAB to file references against the opposition leaders for corruption which were never proven in the courts of law as almost all of them were acquitted of the charges leveled against them. The politics of vendetta and his failure to stem the economic rot finally led to his downfall as a result of a no-confidence motion by the PDM parties.
Like always he invented a false narrative of a conspiracy involving the US, the establishment, and PDM to show him the door. He has been spitting venom against the establishment particularly the outgoing COAS General Bajwa in more than seventy public rallies that he addressed across the country. It is a shame that such a person was made chief executive of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Perhaps it would be pertinent to mention that a leader is supposed to stand on a higher moral pedestal than the common souls that he is supposed to lead. That standard is applied even in the most permissive societies. The uproar created in the US over former President Bill Clinton’s affair with her aide testifies to this contention.
PM Shehbaz, COAS Asim Munir resolve to rid country of terrorism scourge However, despite the foregoing realities Imran Khan and his party have shown amazing effrontery by continuously hurling allegations of unsubstantiated corruption on the PDM leaders, holding them responsible for triggering the economic down-slide claiming that during PTI rule the economy had become very vibrant. That claim is strongly refuted by the economic indicators mentioned above. A persistent campaign is also in the offing to propagate that Imran was a man of impeccable and unblemished character.
The economy undoubtedly is in tatters thanks to the performance of PTI and the legacy left by it. There are no two opinions about the fact that the country needs political stability to nudge the process of economic revival and evolve an economic charter enjoying the consensus of all the stakeholders. Unfortunately, Imran Khan is not prone to reason and national interests. His only concern is his return to power. The political instability fomented by him is doing serious damage to the national polity.
SC strikes down Imran's right to defence in PM Shehbaz's defamation suit His demand for immediate elections lacks any legal and moral logic. With the economy in the doldrums, the country cannot afford elections at the moment for the reason that it involves a huge amount of money that the exchequer cannot spare at the moment. Even politically speaking there is no justification for it. The assemblies have been mandated to exist for five years and should be allowed to complete their mandated period.
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