Islamabad, Sep 21 (IANS) Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) protest set to take place on September 27 will once again expose one of the Pakistani state’s deepest structural weaknesses – its failure to create a political system in which civilian authorities can operate without the military’s decisive intervention or looming shadow, a report has detailed.
The PTI has planned to hold a protest to demand the release of imprisoned party founder Imran Khan and to defend the constitutional order. Almost about 50 years after the 1977 coup, Pakistan has not been able to resolve the fundamental question of who ultimately holds power: political institutions getting legitimacy through polls or the military establishment that has influence beyond its narrowly constitutional defence role, social policy specialist Chrysoula Asteriadou wrote in an article for Pressenza International Press Agency.
Imran Khan’s case brings this contradiction back to the centre of Pakistan’s politics. His political trajectory includes some of the same contradictions he currently criticises. After Imran Khan became Pakistan’s Prime Minister in 2018, analysts and political opponents contended that his rise was due to the support of the military establishment, a claim rejected by Khan and PTI. Imran Khan-led government also faced criticism over pressure on journalists and media organisations, the use of cybercrime legislation, and incidents involving the intimidation of critical voices.
The subsequent fallout between Imran Khan and the military leadership does not remove the political history of his rise and instead highlights Pakistan’s political order, where civilian and military elites have coexisted when their interests were similar and later engaged in clashes when the balance of power shifted, the report in Pressenza International Press Agency stated.
“None of this justifies any violation of Khan’s rights, nor does it make questions surrounding the legality and conditions of his prolonged imprisonment irrelevant. It does mean, however, that Pakistan’s present crisis cannot be reduced to a confrontation between a democratic politician and an authoritarian general. The Khan case is better understood as a symptom of a political system in which the relationship between elected authority and the military establishment has remained chronically unstable,” it said.
The problem has gained more significance under Pakistan’s current army chief, Asim Munir, as the military has gained stronger institutional foundations. In May last year, the Pakistan government promoted Munir to the rank of Field Marshal, becoming only the second military officer in Pakistan’s history to hold the position after Ayub Khan. In November last year, Pakistan, through the 27th Constitutional Amendment, restructured the military command and created the position of Chief of Defence Forces, assumed by Munir along with his current position as Pakistan’s army chief.
Ahead of the PTI’s protest, Imran Khan’s sisters – Uzma Khan, Noreen Niazi and Aleema Khan have been detained following a Lahore Deputy Commissioner’s order for their 30-day detention, Pakistan-based daily Dawn reported.
The Lahore DC office ordered the detention of Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi for 30 days under the Punjab Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, 1960 and stated that they were “prejudicial to the public safety and maintenance of public order.” Aleema Khan was detained for 30 days under similar orders on Sunday.
On September 13, the PTI leaders said that the party has planned to hold the protest and long march on September 27 not only to demand the release of Imran Khan but also to restore democracy and ensure supremacy of the constitution and rule of law in Pakistan.
Addressing a press conference, PTI leaders Haris Touro, Shahid Anwar, Riazur Rehman, Insaf Lawyers Forum (ILF) president advocate Sajjad Ahmed, Bakhtshad Khan and others said that Pakistan was facing a severe political and economic crisis. They claimed that some members of the ruling elite have admitted that the existing system had failed and Pakistan was facing serious challenges, Dawn reported.
They described Imran Khan as a symbol of national unity and said he is capable of moving Pakistan out of the current crisis. They claimed that the constitutional and legal institutions were weakened and the electoral process in Pakistan was undermined.
–IANS
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