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Pakistan's Current Political Situation - How it came to this stage?

Article · April 2022

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 Pakistan’s Current Political Situation
How it came to this stage?

The current political situation in Pakistan is a result of all that has been happening in Pakistani
politics for the past two years when the three parties in opposition made an alliance against
Khan’s elected government. But we observe rapid changes and developments in April 2022 as
the government elected by the people of Islamic republic of Pakistan was taken down by the no-
confidence motion against Imran Khan-the former Prime Minister. Here’s what prompted the
opposition to bring the no-confidence motion.
Khan's political death is rooted in a couple of new realities. Within parliament, his party lost the
support of coalition partners, denying him the majority needed to defeat the no-confidence
motion. Outside parliament, Khan appeared to be losing the support of Pakistan's powerful
military, which the opposition has accused him of helping him win the 2018 general election.
They have recently been publicly sidelined on senior military appointments and policy decisions
(ALJAZEERA, 2022).
Khan said he wanted Pakistan to have an independent foreign policy and good relations with all
powers, so he meant Russia, China and the US. Especially in the last year, Pakistan has moved
away from the US, partly because of the cold shoulder of the Biden administration to Pakistan
and especially to Khan, but part of it is also embracing what we see. In some ways, Pakistan has
visited both countries - China and Russia; Khan visited the two countries in February. So, despite
saying that Pakistan wants an independent foreign policy, it ended up looking like a Pakistan
with China and Russia in the background of this cold shoulder of the Biden administration (Pita,
2022). Since the beginning of his tenure, Khan has done whatever he thought was the best for his
country and his nation without thinking once about the international pressure that a country like
Pakistan faces whenever it tries to take its own decisions.
During Khan’s four-year government, Pakistan struggled with high inflation and a weakened
economy. Rising food imports (such as palm oil, which is a major component of ghee) and rising
food inflation due to pulses resulted in rising commodity prices around the world. Rising wheat
prices should be viewed not only from the perspective of urban consumers, but also from the
perspective of rural producers. The sudden spike in the price of the poultry was a result of a
disease, which is now fully recovered. Similarly, rising vegetable prices such as onions and
tomatoes resulted due to the import restrictions with India and the destruction of crops due to
floods last year (Salman, 2021). The allied opposition otherwise known as PDM presented the
motion of no-confidence, based on the above mentioned reasons, in the National Assembly.
Prime Minister Imran Khan called for the dissolution of the Pakistan National Assembly and
called for new elections, blocking a no-confidence motion and which was threatening to remove
him from office and plunge the country into a constitutional crisis. Opposition lawmakers said
they would challenge the move in the country's highest court, saying it was "unprecedented" and
a "grave violation" of Pakistan's constitution. Khan's aides said the court had no jurisdiction to
interfere in the work of the legislature, and denied allegations that he conspired with the United
States to remove him.
“Prepare for elections,” Mr. Khan said. “No corrupt forces will decide what the future of the
country will be.”
As the Assembly’s session began, Khan's expulsion seemed imminent. Several parties in his
coalition abandoned him, giving the opposition the majority needed to remove him from office.
However, Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri, Khan's aide, rejected the no-confidence motion. He
said Mr. Khan was still the prime minister and still had the power to dissolve the assembly. The
Pakistani President later confirmed that he had followed Mr. Khan's instructions.
The move came as a surprise to the opposition. Hours after Prime Minister Imran Khan
announced the dissolution of the National Assembly, to prevent the no-confidence motion from
being passed, opposition leaders challenged the move before the Pakistan Supreme Court. The
Supreme Court began hearing the petition and declared Khan's action illegal and allowed the
vote to continue (Masood, 2022). Khan argued that the no-confidence motion was linked to an
American conspiracy and that it violated Article 5 of the Pakistani Constitution, which defamed
the state by emphasizing its allegiance. Their allegation stems from a private exchange between a
senior US official last month and Asad Majeed Khan, Pakistan's ambassador to Washington;
Asad Majeed Khan told Islamabad that a US official had expressed dissatisfaction with the Prime
Minister and that removing him in a no-confidence motion would improve US-Pakistan relations
(Kugelman, 2022).
Despite several attempts by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government (PTI) to block the no-
confidence motion in the National Assembly, Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted after losing
the confidence vote ordered by the Supreme Court. In the 342-member House, 174 members
voted in favor of the resolution, while members of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)
abstained (ANI, 2022). After the PTI boycotted the elections and walked out of the assembly,
Shahbaz remained the sole contender for the PM's job and was subsequently elected the country's
chief executive. After his election, Shahbaz announced a number of policy measures as Prime
Minister, with a particular focus on the economy and foreign relations. The next day, Shahbaz
was officially sworn in as the Prime Minister of Pakistan at a ceremony in Ivan-e-Sadr. Prior to
the ceremony, President Dr. Arif Alvi complained of discomfort and advised to rest for a few
days. In the absence of the President, Senate President Sadiq Sanjarani administered the oath of
office to PM Shahbaz (Raza, 2022).
After being taken down from the government, Khan spoke of a 'threatening letter' in recent
weeks and claimed that his dismissal was part of a foreign conspiracy because he was not
acceptable to pursue an independent foreign policy. He said he wanted people to see the
document but refused to share it for national security reasons. However, he shared the gist of it in
his own words. Mr. Khan reiterated his allegations that the US diplomat had threatened regime
change in Pakistan. "It is a great insult to the 22 crore people of Pakistan that a foreign official is
giving orders to the current Prime Minister of the country through a third person and warning
 that there will be dire consequences if I [Imran Khan] resigns. So they are desperate to be
forgiven”, he said. He asked the people to come out and reject the foreign conspiracy to remove
the government. "If you are not standing up, no one will come to save you,” he said (THE
HINDU, 2022).
Everything that has happened in the last few weeks results only in the weakening of Pakistan’s
democratic system and has once again derailed Pakistan from its path towards a better economy
and a peaceful image in front of the world. Once again the people are out on the roads and the
lawful right of media to capture the ongoing situation is taken from it. Pakistan is again in a
chaos where the only thing at stake is its democracy.

References
ALJAZEERA. (2022, April 10). Retrieved from aljazeera.com: https://www.aljazeera.com

ANI. (2022, April 10). Business Standard. Retrieved from business-standard.com: https://www.business-
standard.com

Kugelman, M. (2022, April 07). FP. Retrieved from foreignpolicy.com: https://foreignpolicy.com

Masood, C. G. (2022, April 03). The New York Times. Retrieved from nytimes.com:
https://www.nytimes.com/

Pita, M. A. (2022, March 25). Why is Pakistani PM Imran Khan facing a no-confidence vote? Retrieved
from Brookings.edu: https://www.brookings.edu

Raza, S. I. (2022, April 11). DAWN. Retrieved from dawn.com: https://www.dawn.com

Salman, A. (2021, September 13). The Express Tribune. Retrieved from tribune.com.pk:
https://tribune.com.pk

THE HINDU. (2022, April 09). Retrieved from thehindu.com: https://www.thehindu.com

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