Pakistan election 2018: Imran Khan is the worst choice for Pakistan and India amid a field of bad choice



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Imran Khan promised to change Pakistan. But Pakistan has changed. To arrive at a remarkable distance from realizing his dream of running the country (and not just his cricket team), Khan had to go through a longer and more transformative personal journey than the one he embarked upon to emerge as a favorite for the first to be a member of the worldwide elite educated at Oxford with a cut English accent and a (later broken) marriage to the daughter of a British mogul, to become a "faithful" Islamist with feverish support for Pakistan's harsh blasphemy laws or regressive views on women, Khan took several steps back.

  Image file of Imran Khan, chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Party. Reuters

Image file of Imran Khan, chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party. Reuters

Khan's Autobiography 2011, Pakistan: A Personal History quotes the leader of Pakistan's Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) who caused the murder of Pakistani Senator Salmaan Taseer by their fanaticism and their fanaticism Taseer, then governor of the Pakistani province of Punjab, was murdered by his bodyguard aged 26, Malik Mumtaz Hussein Qadri, on January 4, 2011, for his perceived opposition to the laws of blasphemy – an inflammatory Pakistan. In 2016, the government of Nawaz Sharif executed Qadri, who had shot down the senator 26 times. Shortly after killing Taseer, he told the media: "Salman Taseer is a blasphemer, and that is the punishment for a blasphemer."

In his death, Qadri became a martyr and an icon for Muslim fundamentalists. His execution sparked Islamist fury in Pakistan and gave birth to a new party, the Tehrik-e-Labaik Pakistan, which has since won electoral grounds and is expected to run well in Wednesday's general election. Its supporters brandish the flags and the leaders of Qadri "death to blasphemers".

In 2011, Imran again sentenced Qadri and criticized the political establishment for failing to act against Mullahs . In an interview, he had told The Express Tribune that "extremism and radicalism had deeply penetrated our society" and were hurting young people, adding that "elements like Qadri have". impression that Islam is threatened and is acting accordingly. "" Qadri's actions created fear in society, and he should be treated as any other murderer ", he had said at the time.

It was then.

Imran finished third in the 2013 elections. The leader of the PTI was presented as the "new hope" of Pakistan and drew the crowds, but he He was not able to translate this support into votes. "The scraping apparently triggered a fundamental shift at Imran, or more likely, he realized that if part of the puzzle could be solved by grafting the army , the other had to adopt a strongly pro-Islamist stance.

The party is now supping in the fundamentalist loons, and Imran is complying with all the regressive causes. In their fight against the Pakistani-Nawaz Muslim League Sharif (PML-N), members of the PTI ask the public to choose between the party that displays the image of Qadri on the electoral banners and the "party that l & # 39; 39 "executed". Imran is doubling the message, telling participants: "No Muslim can call himself a Muslim if he does not believe the Prophet Muhammad is the last prophet." This statement, as pointed out in the AFP report, has caused consternation among Ahmadis, the minority segment that believes in a prophet after Muhammad. In another rally, Imran said, "We remain loyal to Article 295C and we will defend it," referring to a clause in the Pakistani Constitution that provides for the death penalty for all. "Imputation, innuendo or insinuation" against the Prophet Muhammad, reports The Guardian .

The military make Imran's way easier, since he considers him a less troublesome figure compared to the dynastic politicians of the Sharif-Bhutto clan. But this is not the complete picture. Corruption among rival ranks has also helped the former cricketer to shape the popular opinion in his favor. The Sharifs are imprisoned, bogged down in the Avenfield Apartments scandal, while the patriarch of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), Asif Ali Zardari, has been imprisoned for corruption. Imran, on the contrary, is considered incorruptible and has been alert enough to shape his election campaign by pushing the narrative "Imran's own against the Mafias".

It is easy to see why young people have any hope for the London-based "anti-establishment figure"

Financial Times quotes Huma Baqai, a professor of international relations at the University of London. Karachi University, on Imran's call: "He is He has no past political experience, he made mistakes, but we tried the two main political parties , and they did not deliver. "

Appeal to many, but not experience to

Yet, miserable because all the choices are for Pakistani voters at the time these elections, Imran offers the worst option for several reasons.

For example, there is a long time in politics but never held a government position, has little administrative experience to show, and offers little beyond its unique anti-corruption agenda, having taken control of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) Pakistan in the 2013 elections, Imran has mostly failed to translate his promises into reality. He had stated that KPK would be transformed into a "model province", but field reports indicate a gap of difference between the claim and its performance.

Arshad Mahmood, a writer and social activist based in Islamabad, told Deutsche Welle of Germany that "things are pretty much the same as in the past" because the workers of PTI "consider themselves above the law and will not cooperate with the administration". Some say the party is facing internal disagreements because "many provincial legislators have rebelled against Prime Minister KPK and Imran Khan".

Imran says he will turn Pakistan into an "Islamic welfare state". This is the recipe for disaster for a country that suffers from a balance of payments crisis, a falling currency, rising oil prices, macroeconomic instability. , shortages of electricity and water, the highest infant mortality rate the Human Development Index (147 out of 188 in 2016) and the Global Hunger Index (106 out of 119 developing countries in 2017). Not only is Imran's work almost impossible, but the leader of the ITP seems dangerously thin on ideas and policies.

In an interview with the Sunday Times Imran was "unable to explain" how he intended to implement the "China-Pakistan model", or even share rudimentary details of his ideas. The newspaper wrote, "We have a lot to learn from what they did with the industry." So, what is his plan overall? First, "a sovereign foreign policy". Secondly, "an Islamic welfare state". Third, "the model of China". Can he give me details? His eyes are immobilized. Even Khan's closest advisers admit that the boss is not great in this department. "This is not a strategist, let's say it like that," said Asad Umar, vice president of Imran's party. "He has never been to an institution and does not know how to work in an institutional setting."

As noted above, in his quest for power, Imran has shown a dangerous slant towards Islamism – especially towards the Taliban – the provincial government that runs his party in the northern KPK region has gained notoriety in 2017 for giving $ 3 million to the madrbada of Haqqania, a source of formidable Taliban militants. to demand that the "Taliban be allowed to open offices in Pakistani cities", called for an end to US drone attacks against them and the Taliban, in turn, want Imran to "represent them in the negotiations with the government ". [19659002Ilyadessonnettesd'alarmepourl'Indeaumilieudesindicationsquesilepartid'Imrantombeàmi-Cheminal'Assembléenationalelescandidatsdel'Allah-o-AkbarTehreek-lefrontélectoraldeMumbaiattaqueleMilliMuslimdeHafizSaeedEntoutcaslessondagesd'opinionàl'échellenationale(voiricietici)indiquentquemêmesilePTId'ImranpeutfinirdevantPML-NdeSharifetlePPPdeButto-Zardariaucunedespartiesn&WillgetagreatdealoflightinthesecasesbutitwillbedifficulttonegotiatewiththePPPtopreventthehatredfrom

As Irfan Husain writes in Dawn "For the PPP, this arrangement would make no mistake: the astute Zardari would lead a difficult negotiation , knowing how much Imran Khan wants the best job. "This means that an inexperienced Imran will be putty in the hands of more experienced political agents and unable to offer the kind of governance that he has promised.

  File image of Imran Khan Getty Images

Image of Imran Khan's record Getty Images

Imran and the Pakistani Army

However, the most damning argument against the warrant of Imran at the helm is the power that the country's military exerts over him.The Pindi khakis facilitated his ascent to the top through a strategy of machinations, manipulations and coercive strategies, and will eager to extract their pound of flesh.One example should suffice to how: the establishment tried to control the narrative in favor of Imran

Raza Rumi, editor of Daily Times told Christina Lamb of The Times [194] 59009] United Kingdom, how the media have been intimidated and threatened with self-censorship. The "red lines" include "all that is positive about Nawaz Sharif, coverage of PML-N rallies, enforced disappearances by the 39, army, Pashtun demonstrations against mbadacres "

In this scenario, the estate of Imran (baduming that he wins) may lack popular approval. can strangely create even more civil-military tension because if the military is working tirelessly to set it up as prime minister, Imran's lack of credibility may put the army that wants to enjoy at a disadvantage of power without responsibility, as Husain Haqqani writes. in For Foreign Policy .

"Pakistan is a constitutional democracy, not a dictatorship If the puppet chains are too visible, the puppeteer bears all the responsibility for all the results The establishment wants to do it in both directions: the power but not responsibility, "writes Pakistan's former ambbadador to the United States

Pakistani voters have received a bad scenario, but they may choose to choose the second worst option Imran Khan

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