Period of Stability
Hanif believes Pakistan’s recent elections were intended to bring about a period of calm for the country’s political divisions and high inflation.
Rather, what they produced is a minority administration, a hesitant and unsteady alliance that appears unclear about its purpose.
The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), led by Bilawal Bhutto, and the Pakistan Muslim League (N), led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, said two weeks after the elections that they would form a government, but the PPP would not be a part of it.
The leaders of both parties delivered a midnight speech that resembled a shotgun wedding.
All of a sudden, Pakistan’s uncommon democracy, in which the prime minister was not genuinely desired by anyone,.
Pakistan’s powerful military is referred to as the “establishment” in local media, and they have always maintained that civilian politicians shouldn’t be in charge of such a delicate process.
This time, they pulled out their old election playbook and employed every tactic they had previously used with success.
Imran Khan, the front-runner, was jailed. He is charged with over 150 crimes and civil cases, all of which he contests.
He received sentences in three cases a week prior to the elections; in one, he was charged with hastily entering into a marriage. His party was forced to run as an independent after being refused.
Opposition remarks
Instead of running for office in their communities, many were dodging police raids.
Social media and mobile phone services were shut down during election day. Supporters of Khan find difficulty in access polling places.
With incredible resourcefulness, Khan’s followers created WhatsApp groups, made do with homemade applications and websites, visited polling places, and located their candidates.
AI-generated speeches were utilized by his party to deliver their imprisoned leader’s message. The jail ID number of Imran Khan was made into an election campaign slogan.
They launched an unconventional campaign and surprised everyone on election day.
His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) managed to emerge as the single largest party in the election in spite of all the allegations of manipulation against it.
The establishment failed to control a digitally sophisticated youth by employing 20th-century strategies.
The voters’ courteous yet firm reaction to the military’s tried and true tactics was, “Thank you, but no thank you. We are not as ignorant and illiterate as you think we are.” Even if you have your firearms and we can’t fight you in the streets, our signature is on the ballot. Proceed as you like with it.
The veteran agitator
His appeal and personality have grown as a result of his ability to paint his rivals as crooked. Having spent his whole political career bashing politicians, he is averse to sharing power.
The majority of politicians in Pakistan have served time in jail or prison. However, Imran Khan seemed to have had the most enjoyment of all.
Refusing any public forum to address his followers, he managed to win an election from his prison cell by sending messages through his attorneys and close relatives.
A few protesters even broke into army headquarters and set fire to the home of a senior general. It is good, according to Pakistan’s perspective.
The crackdown
The majority of the PTI’s top leadership was kidnapped and forced to break from Imran Khan; some denounced his political views, while others permanently left the party.
The establishment desired to make it very evident that Imran Khan and his group were out of business.
Opponents of his claim that all of his policies throughout his time in office were motivated only by whims and vanity. They claim that throughout his term in office, he harassed his rivals more than he managed the nation. Khan appeared preoccupied throughout his tenure in office and made poor choices that prevented inflation from getting out of control.
He sounded like an opposition politician even while he was in administration, in the media, and with his political rivals.
Conclusion
He has no desire to change into a weaker version of himself in order to fit in with the establishment.
He is the most well-liked politician in Pakistan because of his wrath towards the established political establishment. Imran wouldn’t want to give that up to lead a nation that even his defeated rivals appear hesitant to lead. This is the ideal setting for Imran Khan to carry out his campaign, even from his prison cell.
