THREE YEARS and eight months into power, Prime Minister Imran Khan is forced to get his hands dirty to avert the toppling of his government. A veteran of 26 years in politics, he had earlier used powerful backers to do the dirty work. One of these tasks was in July 2018: Delivering the right number of lawmakers necessary for Khan’s election as prime minister. They achieved it in the face of adversity, namely Mian Nawaz Sharif. But now, Khan, the chief of Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI), is desperately seeking the support of these legislators to stay in the saddle. If the past is a guide, his fall is imminent.
Khan’s battle has been one of survival from day one—despite all these references to him being consistently on the same page as the king-making army chief. Even now, the impetus for the opposition’s thrust against the PTI government is linked directly with an extension of tenure for current Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
The aam aadmi’s feed of this story has been played out in the all-important Punjab province. It is the same Punjab that catapulted Khan to the top in a pulsating finish against the once invincible Sharifs. It is the politicians from various “ignored” corners of the same province—who now figure prominently in the list of the original 14 dissidents—who have shaken the Insafian edifice of power.
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