There have been many rigged elections in Pakistan since independence. The 1977 elections which Bhutto's PPP won with an overwhelming majority were heavily rigged, and resulted in his overthrow (after weeks of protests). The recent general elections in July 2018 saw Imran Khan becoming prime minister of the country. Everyone knows he couldn't have won without help from the army and the judiciary which imprisoned leaders of the party that had ruled for the past five years. If Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam had been allowed to campaign in the final weeks before the polls, Imran Khan would most certainly have lost.
As expected, Imran Khan has proved he has no idea of how to govern the country. His ministers do nothing but hurl charges at their political opponents. So far, the opposition has not done much to destabilize his government. But his luck is running out, and if history is any guide, his days are numbered.
Even though the opposition is still divided, the turning point came today, when the judges acquitted Aasia Bibi, the Christian woman who had been sentenced to death for blasphemy many years ago, and whose appeal against her conviction was accepted by the apex court today.
As expected, the fundamentalist parties came out in protest to paralyze the country. The protests are being led by a foul mouthed illiterate cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi (who last year paralyzed the previous government with Imran Khan's support). Imran Khan made a short speech today, deploring the abuse heaped upon the judges and the vitriolic speeches by the clerics asking soldiers to overthrow the government, alleging that the army chief is not a Muslim. You could see he's a worried man. He's leaving a day earlier than scheduled for China, and this I think has been decided by his palmist wife (the equally fundamentalist Pinky, who takes advice from djinns and fairies).
I find it highly amusing that history is being repeated: the same people who were used by the establishment to weaken the previous government so Imran Khan's party could win are now trying to dislodge him. And Imran has the audacity to say that what they are doing will damage the country's interests. Funny, he never said this when he was doing the damaging these past five years, asking overseas Pakistanis to use the illegal havala route to send money to their relatives in Pakistan (remitting through banking channels would have increased the foreign exchange reserves of the country, and Nawaz Sharif would have benefited. For this alone, he should have been tried in the courts. I have no love lost for Imran Khan, and I sincerely hope his government falls soon, even though I don't like the other two who looted the country. But at least they are not stupid morons like him.
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