Despite Imran’s road show, Sharif firmly in saddle with military support

Islamabad: Since his ouster after defeat in a “no-confidence” vote in the Pakistani Parliament, which brought a coalition government under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to power, Imran Khan has been waging a relentless campaign via massive public rallies and a roaring anti-government long march, which he calls the “freedom march”. Khan’s objective is to topple the new ruling setup and force early elections in the country. The current coalition government of at least 13 political parties, forged together under the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) under the premiership of Shehbaz Sharif is faced with a major challenge and threat from Khan, whose long march against the government re-started after a week delay, after Khan survived an assassination attempt in Wazirabad, Punjab, leaving him injured of bullet wounds.

Now that Khan sits back at his residence in Lahore and recovers, his march continues to move towards the capital – Islamabad with him, addressing his supporters via video link daily. The big question that is still pertinent is whether the Shehbaz Sharif government would be able to stand the planned, strategic and major political assault by Khan as his supporters from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party plan to surround Islamabad and choke all roads leading up to the national capital, demanding the immediate dismissal of the government and announcement of early elections in the country. Will Shehbaz Sharif be forced to agree to the terms of the former Prime Minister amid growing public pressure or what can also be called as a serious threat of anarchy and chaos through the masses by Khan? One thing that seems clear as a writing on the wall is the fact that the current ruling setup in Pakistan has the support of the country’s powerful military establishment, who it seems, is not ready to back out from its position of not only being supportive to the ruling government, but also to negate, ignore and reject the impositions being forced onto to them or attributed to them by Khan’s continuous targeted campaign against them.

It is a well-known secret that Khan was brought into power through the extended support of the military establishment that supported him wholeheartedly, which was reason why the then opposition and today’s government parties were almost “irrelevant” during Khan’s time in office. But Khan’s power show and tall claims of having the best and competent team on his side fell like the house of cards when he lost support of the same military establishment, which he now stands against and challenges in public. It is a known fact that in Pakistan, the political regime is dependent on the support of the powerful military to either gain power, or even retain power in political offices.

This has certainly remained the same since the formation of the country and seems like it continues to stand, which, in the current scenario, goes in the favour of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. And in view of the above mentioned argument, it would not be wrong to relate Khan and his ongoing campaign with a fish out of water and Shehbaz Sharif’s coalition government as the more suitable option in terms of majority in political representation through a coalition government set-up in comparison to Khan’s political credentials and a one-man force claiming political supremacy over others. .