For the second time, it seems, the powers-that-be have not been able to handle ‘Project Imran’. And this will have consequences in Pakistan’s vacillating experience with democracy and the principles of civilian supremacy.

The original sin, of course, was to ‘select’ Imran Khan as the saviour of the nation and then to groom and launch him in 2018. But that may have been easier than the present task, so they say, of dismantling a myth that was created in the process.

Even conceding that the assumptions I am making are not true, there appears to be no doubt that Imran Khan has become a central point of reference in the holding of national elections on Thursday and the trickling down of their results.

I have to confess that this opinion that the establishment has not succeeded in achieving its objectives is entirely speculative. It can be argued that the elections have yielded positive results, and the overall situation is not unsatisfactory. Eventually, the outcomes would be adequately handled.

For the time being, Pakistan is caught in the whirling vortex of what may be allegorically described as the morning after, though the night in this case extended to more than 24 hours. By and large, the hangover of the heady indulgence, in a political context, of the night before will last for some time.

Normally, elections in a working democracy are a matter of routine, their purpose being to elect a new government for a specific tenure. The idea is to protect and continue with a constitutional........

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