Pakistan’s Army is Back in Charge of Politics- The Economist

[Mirzali Khan]

The jailing of Imran Khan heralds a period of tighter military control​

Fifty miles—and five years—separate Imran Khan’s greatest political triumph and the nadir, for now, of his political career. At one end is Parliament House in Islamabad, where the assembly that elected him prime minister of Pakistan in 2018 wrapped up its term on August 9th, with power due to be handed to a caretaker administration. At the other is the district jail in Attock in Punjab province, where Mr Khan began a three-year prison term for “corrupt practices” on August 5th.

Mr Khan denies wrongdoing and has unsuccessfully appealed the conviction. He says the charges are politically motivated, which the government denies. The conviction, which comes with a five-year ban from politics, is the culmination of a campaign by Pakistan’s powerful army to remove Mr Khan and his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), from the political fray. It also heralds a period of more active involvement in politics by the generals.

The case has exposed a taste for cash and bling that is at odds with Mr Khan’s idea of himself as a pious anti-corruption crusader. Yet the nature of the conviction, for violating electoral laws that are rarely enforced, hints at the former prime minister’s true crime: challenging Pakistan’s army. Like many Pakistani politicians before him, Mr Khan started out as a general’s favourite. Yet the army eventually tired of his political grandstanding and his mismanagement of Pakistan’s faltering economy. In April 2022 he was removed from office in a vote of no confidence.

Unlike some of his predecessors, Mr Khan refused to go quietly, attacking the generals in a series of rallies across the country and claiming that they tried to assassinate him last November. After he was briefly arrested in early May, his supporters smashed up military installations. The army, unused to and enraged by such displays of defiance, dismantled his party and rounded up his supporters. Eventually, Mr Khan was nabbed for good.

Mr Khan’s forced exit from politics heralds more ambitious plans. Assisted by the outgoing prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, and a pliant parliament, the army has rearranged Pakistan’s hybrid system decisively in its favour. Among the scores of laws tweaked or introduced before parliament’s lights were switched off, several granted sweeping new powers to the armed forces and intelligence agencies, alarming civil-rights groups. The incoming caretaker government has been given the power to negotiate with the IMF and sign foreign investment deals. It may also stick around for longer than the 90 days prescribed by the constitution. The day Mr Khan was arrested the government ratified a new census which could require a fresh demarcation of electoral constituencies. The outgoing law minister says this could delay elections by at least five months. The caretakers will in effect report to the army until then.

Mr Sharif’s indulgence of the army is explained by the state of the economy. He secured a $3bn IMF emergency agreement last month to ward off the possibility of default. But the price is steep: higher energy tariffs, high interest rates and a market exchange rate, none of which is popular with voters. The later the election, the more time Mr Sharif and his allies will have to put distance between themselves and unpopular decisions.

Yet Mr Sharif may be tempting fate. Nine months into the job, newly victorious in his battle with Mr Khan and his supporters, General Asim Munir, who heads the armed forces, is growing assertive. He is spearheading a new economic council and is busy touting Pakistan’s investment potential to Gulf states that have grown tired of doling out cash to Pakistan. More than their money, he may be eyeing their political support. “We are probably moving towards a new political order, a controlled democracy where civil liberties are curtailed in the name of economic development,” says Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, president of the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency. In perennially chaotic Pakistan, order can seem attractive to an ambitious general.

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline "Enter the generals"

Pakistan’s army is back in charge of politics

The jailing of Imran Khan heralds a period of tighter military control

www.economist.com

@Maula Jatt @PakSarZameen47 @Menace2Society @Pakstallion @Vapnope @Areesh @DESERT FIGHTER @Desert Fox 1 @N.Siddiqui @Norwegian @TNT @Imad.Khan @Dalit @ziaulislam @EternalMortal @lastofthepatriots @WarKa DaNG @Warking @Talwar e Pakistan @WinterFangs @kingQamaR @Menace2Society @Indus Pakistan @Ghazwa-e-Hind @Norwegian @PakFactor @akramishaqkhan @Zornix @pakpride00090 @Abid123 @Goritoes @SecularNationalist @PakistaniandProud @PAKISTANFOREVER @Dual Wielder @Great Janjua @ahaider97 @PakFactor @Sayfullah @SaadH @villageidiot @Olympus81@Mobius 1 @General Dong @Genghis khan1@alphapak @RealNapster @Kharral @Mobius 1@Goenitz @Muhammad Saftain Anjum @AA_ @Mobius 1 @Great Janjua @The Accountant @PakSword @villageidiot @Kharral @SaadH @Goenitz @PakFactor @Tamerlane @ARMalik @Khan_21 @Yousafzai_M @NaqsheYaar @NooriNuth @SaadH @Kharral @AA_ @SaadH @Tamerlane @villageidiot @waz @PakSword @Mugen @Tamerlane @PakAlp @HerbertPervert @Path-Finder @Tamerlane @Drexluddin Khan Spiveyzai @AlKardai @waz @Areesh @hatehs @Path-Finder @HerbertPervert @Dr. Strangelove @Sayfullah @Clutch @Bleek @mangochutney @FuturePAF @Cash GK

 

[Dalit]

Troublesome to say the least. The Americans and Brits are complicit.

 

[kingQamaR]

A few rotten dogs, not the entire nation were manufactured to serve the bloody west. Since Pakistan independence. You can’t imagine seeing this happens anywhere cake cutting for your former colonisers by Ghulami PM Shabaz to British High Commissioner. Insult to all us proud Pakistanis . Sort your people out Punjabi Bros this is so embarrassing for us all.

 

[Jf Thunder]

when were they ever "not" in charge of everything?

 

[Sinnerman108]

Troublesome to say the least. The Americans and Brits are complicit.

that is their job, they are safeguarding their empire.

It is Pakistan Army which is at fault, absolutely.
Pakistan Army is the conduit through which the british and the americans have manipulated this nation.

and our FA pass, wannabe angrez officers love lending to them.
Anything to please their master and garner acceptance into angrez club.

 

[El Sidd]

The army, unused to and enraged by such displays of defiance, dismantled his party and rounded up his supporters.

Which army and which country in the world is used to having their military installations smashed?

Nothing new, Pakistan is used to having these propaganda pieces written against the armed forces.

The economist should worry about tiktokers pillaging London more than some country on the mainland Asia.

 

[Ghessan]

just wait a bit more...

there is more surprises for those who are expecting to make next government.

what just happened till the end of the tenure of previous assembly, was phase 1.

wait for phase 2 to be implemented after the next assembly sworn in.

 

[Samurai_assassin]

The Generals have sworn an allegiance to the British and Americans.
The establishment will commit to anything on the orders of the white colonial masters.

 

[Jaeger]

It is ironic how each and every Pakistani politicians..that Pakistanis love as well as Pakistanis hate are all creation of Pakistan army.The propaganda for or against them too is their creation.

Even the politicians Pakistanis hate today is because at one time Pakistani army wanted them discredited have their own man in power. They influenced the Pakistani media such.

And the politician that Pakistanis love is because once upon time, Pakistan army wanted him in power, literally built his party for him, coached him how to get rid of his playboy image and adopt that of a reformed Islamic scholar, discredited his competition.

Since the army has turned against him, who knows, maybe few years down the line the people of Pakistan will hate Imran khan as much as they hate the Sharifs today.

Pakistan army is the master puppeteer of the Pakistani race.

 

[Samurai_assassin]

It is ironic how each and every Pakistani politicians..that Pakistanis love as well as Pakistanis hate are all creation of Pakistan army.The propaganda for or against them too is their creation.

Even the politicians Pakistanis hate today is because at one time Pakistani army wanted them discredited have their own man in power. They influenced the Pakistani media such.

And the politician that Pakistanis love is because once upon time, Pakistan army wanted him in power, literally built his party for him, coached him how to get rid of his playboy image and adopt that of a reformed Islamic scholar, discredited his competition.

Since the army has turned against him, who knows, maybe few years down the line the people of Pakistan will hate Imran khan as much as they hate the Sharifs today.

Pakistan army is the master puppeteer of the Pakistani race.

I dont hate the army but the whores sat at the top. Under Bajwa Pak lost thousands of soliders in almost everyday attacks in Balochestan, KPK and across the Afghan border. The then COAS (Bajwa) did nothing. He watched Pak soliders being attacked for several hours and eventually massacred yet didnt even provide air support.
What is the purpose to have such technology and missiles when the COAS is involved in personal politics then defending the borders.

 

[Jaeger]

I dont hate the army but the whores sat at the top. Under Bajwa Pak lost thousands of soliders in almost everyday attacks in Balochestan, KPK and across the Afghan border. The then COAS (Bajwa) did nothing. He watched Pak soliders being attacked for several hours and eventually massacred yet didnt even provide air support.
What is the purpose to have such technology and missiles when the COAS is involved in personal politics then defending the borders.

You people still fail to see the big picture, when you blame one general or the other or favour one politican or the other.

They are all the same.

 

[Samurai_assassin]

You people still fail to see the big picture, when you blame one general or the other or favour one politican or the other.

They are all the same.

You people have failed to realise that Generals are responsible for providing adequate equipment to the foot soldiers deployed to defend the borders. Instead pickup trucks were provided resulting in various deaths due to IED bombings. Rag tag sandal wearing militias were hunting Pak soldiers.
So yes Bajwa is responsible. He rather open burger joints then care about true Patriots.

 

[Cash GK]

The jailing of Imran Khan heralds a period of tighter military control​

Fifty miles—and five years—separate Imran Khan’s greatest political triumph and the nadir, for now, of his political career. At one end is Parliament House in Islamabad, where the assembly that elected him prime minister of Pakistan in 2018 wrapped up its term on August 9th, with power due to be handed to a caretaker administration. At the other is the district jail in Attock in Punjab province, where Mr Khan began a three-year prison term for “corrupt practices” on August 5th.

Mr Khan denies wrongdoing and has unsuccessfully appealed the conviction. He says the charges are politically motivated, which the government denies. The conviction, which comes with a five-year ban from politics, is the culmination of a campaign by Pakistan’s powerful army to remove Mr Khan and his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), from the political fray. It also heralds a period of more active involvement in politics by the generals.

The case has exposed a taste for cash and bling that is at odds with Mr Khan’s idea of himself as a pious anti-corruption crusader. Yet the nature of the conviction, for violating electoral laws that are rarely enforced, hints at the former prime minister’s true crime: challenging Pakistan’s army. Like many Pakistani politicians before him, Mr Khan started out as a general’s favourite. Yet the army eventually tired of his political grandstanding and his mismanagement of Pakistan’s faltering economy. In April 2022 he was removed from office in a vote of no confidence.

Unlike some of his predecessors, Mr Khan refused to go quietly, attacking the generals in a series of rallies across the country and claiming that they tried to assassinate him last November. After he was briefly arrested in early May, his supporters smashed up military installations. The army, unused to and enraged by such displays of defiance, dismantled his party and rounded up his supporters. Eventually, Mr Khan was nabbed for good.

Mr Khan’s forced exit from politics heralds more ambitious plans. Assisted by the outgoing prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, and a pliant parliament, the army has rearranged Pakistan’s hybrid system decisively in its favour. Among the scores of laws tweaked or introduced before parliament’s lights were switched off, several granted sweeping new powers to the armed forces and intelligence agencies, alarming civil-rights groups. The incoming caretaker government has been given the power to negotiate with the IMF and sign foreign investment deals. It may also stick around for longer than the 90 days prescribed by the constitution. The day Mr Khan was arrested the government ratified a new census which could require a fresh demarcation of electoral constituencies. The outgoing law minister says this could delay elections by at least five months. The caretakers will in effect report to the army until then.

Mr Sharif’s indulgence of the army is explained by the state of the economy. He secured a $3bn IMF emergency agreement last month to ward off the possibility of default. But the price is steep: higher energy tariffs, high interest rates and a market exchange rate, none of which is popular with voters. The later the election, the more time Mr Sharif and his allies will have to put distance between themselves and unpopular decisions.

Yet Mr Sharif may be tempting fate. Nine months into the job, newly victorious in his battle with Mr Khan and his supporters, General Asim Munir, who heads the armed forces, is growing assertive. He is spearheading a new economic council and is busy touting Pakistan’s investment potential to Gulf states that have grown tired of doling out cash to Pakistan. More than their money, he may be eyeing their political support. “We are probably moving towards a new political order, a controlled democracy where civil liberties are curtailed in the name of economic development,” says Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, president of the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency. In perennially chaotic Pakistan, order can seem attractive to an ambitious general.

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline "Enter the generals"

Pakistan’s army is back in charge of politics

The jailing of Imran Khan heralds a period of tighter military control

www.economist.com

@Maula Jatt @PakSarZameen47 @Menace2Society @Pakstallion @Vapnope @Areesh @DESERT FIGHTER @Desert Fox 1 @N.Siddiqui @Norwegian @TNT @Imad.Khan @Dalit @ziaulislam @EternalMortal @lastofthepatriots @WarKa DaNG @Warking @Talwar e Pakistan @WinterFangs @kingQamaR @Menace2Society @Indus Pakistan @Ghazwa-e-Hind @Norwegian @PakFactor @akramishaqkhan @Zornix @pakpride00090 @Abid123 @Goritoes @SecularNationalist @PakistaniandProud @PAKISTANFOREVER @Dual Wielder @Great Janjua @ahaider97 @PakFactor @Sayfullah @SaadH @villageidiot @Olympus81@Mobius 1 @General Dong @Genghis khan1@alphapak @RealNapster @Kharral @Mobius 1@Goenitz @Muhammad Saftain Anjum @AA_ @Mobius 1 @Great Janjua @The Accountant @PakSword @villageidiot @Kharral @SaadH @Goenitz @PakFactor @Tamerlane @ARMalik @Khan_21 @Yousafzai_M @NaqsheYaar @NooriNuth @SaadH @Kharral @AA_ @SaadH @Tamerlane @villageidiot @waz @PakSword @Mugen @Tamerlane @PakAlp @HerbertPervert @Path-Finder @Tamerlane @Drexluddin Khan Spiveyzai @AlKardai @waz @Areesh @hatehs @Path-Finder @HerbertPervert @Dr. Strangelove @Sayfullah @Clutch @Bleek @mangochutney @FuturePAF @Cash GK

My intake on this

The article raises important concerns about the current political situation in Pakistan and the role of the military establishment. It highlights the conviction and imprisonment of Imran Khan, the former prime minister of Pakistan, and that this is a result of a campaign by the powerful army to remove him from the political scene.

It is not uncommon for Pakistani politicians to fall out of favor with the military establishment. However, what sets Imran Khan apart is his refusal to go quietly and his open criticism of the generals. This has led to a crackdown on his party and supporters, ultimately resulting in his imprisonment.

While the article focuses on the economic implications of the military's increased involvement in politics, it is crucial to recognize the broader implications for democracy and civil liberties in Pakistan. A controlled democracy, where civil liberties are curtailed in the name of economic development, is a cause for concern. It is important to remember that democracy is not just about economic growth but also about the protection of individual rights and freedoms.

Imran Khan has been a vocal advocate for anti-corruption and has positioned himself as a crusader against corruption in Pakistan.

The writer believes that the military establishment wants to rearrange Pakistan's hybrid system in its favor, granting sweeping new powers to the armed forces and intelligence agencies. This raises concerns about an imbalance of power and the erosion of democratic principles.

It is crucial for international observers to closely monitor the situation in Pakistan and support efforts to uphold democratic values and protect civil liberties. The international community should condemn any attempts to suppress political dissent and undermine democratic institutions.

Imran Khan's imprisonment and the increased involvement of the military establishment in politics are troubling developments for Pakistan's democracy. It is imperative to stand with those who are working towards a more transparent and accountable political system in the country.

 

[Sliver]

Troublesome to say the least. The Americans and Brits are complicit.

we can blame everyone in the world, but we all know who the real culprits are

 

[Sugarcane]

The son of b!tch Sicilian mafia never left the charge, so "Back in Charge" is disinformation.