On Sunday, the Pakistan National Assembly was to witness a vote of no-confidence against Prime Minister Imran Khan. There was enough evidence to know that the Opposition parties had the numbers to oust Khan. We had heard Khan say that he would not resign and would fight till the last ball. The ruling party had claimed that they had a “trump card”, which people are now calling the “Donald Trump card”. The “trump card” turned out to be the ruling party trampling on the constitution.
April 3, 2022 will be remembered as the day the Constitution of Pakistan was subverted by a civilian government on the floor of the House. First, the vote of no-confidence was disallowed using Article 5 of the Constitution as a crutch, with Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri ruling that “circumstances show that there is a nexus between the no-confidence motion, foreign intervention and the activities of that state’s representatives deputed to Pakistan”. Then, the prime minister addressed the nation, announcing that he had advised the president to dissolve the National Assembly. The president dissolved the Assembly subsequently. It all happened in such a short period of time that one is still grappling with the government’s utter disregard for the rule of law in the face of an imminent defeat. And, instead of being embarrassed about doing something so atrocious, the ruling party is going to have a week-long celebration to mark that the vote of no-confidence could not take place and that it had played a “masterstroke”.
In an ideal world, one would wonder why anyone would celebrate the end of their own government? The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) seems to be thinking that by putting the blame on the Opposition for being part of some foreign plot to topple Khan’s government, they will win the war of narratives. With the April 3 incident, it is evident that the PTI craves power. These moves could have been dismissed as desperate had they not been unconstitutional.
What is dangerous is how the deputy speaker’s ruling has tainted all 197 members of the Opposition, including the government’s former allies who are with the Opposition now and those of the ruling party who jumped ship, as foreign agents. PM Khan has continuously said that people will not forgive or forget those who have “sold” their souls and their country. Such a dangerous narrative will definitely have consequences for an already polarised society.
The PPP’s Bilawal Bhutto asked the military spokesman the other day to clarify if the National Security Committee meeting declared the “197 members of National Assembly as traitors and part of a foreign plot”. Bhutto said Khan is using foreign conspiracy to justify his “coup”. The PML-N’s Shehbaz Sharif also mentioned in his press conference how Donald Lu, the US official named in the cable/memo sent by the Pakistan ambassador, was invited by the embassy just a week after the meeting that allegedly led to the “foreign conspiracy” and “threat letter”. All these charges against the Opposition members are only being used to discredit them and at the same time, for stoking anti-Americanism.
There is no reason to label anyone a traitor, nor should these patriotism certificates be handed out by the premier — or anyone else for that matter. Nowhere in the statement after the National Security Committee (NSC) meeting was it mentioned that money was being given to the Opposition to oust PM Khan. Nowhere did it say that any country was involved in toppling the government. Nor did it mention any selling of souls or the existence of “handlers”.
It is apparent that PM Khan knew he was not going to survive the vote of no-confidence on Sunday. That is why, instead of introspecting why his government had become so unpopular that even his allies and party members did not want him to complete his full term, why his economic policies had failed and why he lost the majority in parliament despite censoring the media, he ended up making an unconstitutional move. These are questions he should answer instead of making a false narrative that his government is being toppled due to an international conspiracy. PM Khan claims he does not use religion for political reasons but that is exactly what he does in his speeches. His entire 2018 election campaign was about using religion against the PML-N.
I believe that all civilian governments should complete their five years but the Opposition chose a constitutional way to oust the PM. If what Suri did yesterday is not declared unconstitutional, then no Opposition would be able to bring in a vote of no-confidence against any premier — something that has been provided for in the constitution. We are supposed to be a democracy, not an autocracy.
Imran Khan tried to control the media when he came to power despite the fact that it was the very same media that gave him airtime to build a narrative as an Opposition leader. His government tried to amend the already draconian PECA law, a gift of the previous PML-N government, and make it much more draconian. Inflation is at an all-time high and the people of the country are facing a crippling financial challenge. In all this, perhaps the PTI could have at least acknowledged where it went wrong — instead of opting to create yet another crisis in the country.
All eyes are on the Supreme Court now as it has been hearing the arguments by the government and the Opposition.
This column first appeared in the print edition on April 6, 2022 under the title ‘Imran’s no-ball’. The writer is a senior journalist based in Lahore
