{"id":5827,"date":"2024-01-05T12:36:13","date_gmt":"2024-01-05T07:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/atmateen.com\/?p=5827"},"modified":"2024-01-05T12:37:39","modified_gmt":"2024-01-05T07:37:39","slug":"imran-khans-column-in-the-economist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atmateen.com\/imran-khans-column-in-the-economist\/","title":{"rendered":"Imran Khan&#8217;s Column in The Economist: &#8220;Pakistan\u2019s Elections Could Be a Farce&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In this fiery editorial for The Economist, Pakistan&#8217;s former Prime Minister, Imran Khan, paints a chilling picture of his nation&#8217;s impending elections. He warns of a farcical charade orchestrated by a powerful &#8220;establishment&#8221; seeking to maintain its grip on power while silencing the voice of the people and crushing his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With stark accusations and unwavering conviction, Khan exposes the alleged unfairness, intimidation, and manipulation threatening to derail democracy itself. Get ready for a gripping tale of political intrigue, fierce defiance, and a desperate plea for Pakistan&#8217;s future, all woven through the passionate words of a man fighting for fair elections and the soul of his nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Key Points:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Current Pakistani government illegitimate:<\/strong>&nbsp;Imran Khan argues that the caretaker governments at both federal and provincial levels are unconstitutional,&nbsp;and doubts the credibility of upcoming elections scheduled for February 8th.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Biased Election Commission:<\/strong>&nbsp;Khan accuses the Election Commission of defying the Supreme Court and targeting his party (PTI) by rejecting nominations,&nbsp;hindering internal elections,&nbsp;and launching contempt cases against him and other leaders.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Establishment\u2019s interference:<\/strong>&nbsp;Khan claims the &#8220;establishment&#8221; (army,&nbsp;security agencies,&nbsp;bureaucracy) is not providing a level playing field for PTI in the elections,&nbsp;citing his removal from power due to American pressure and subsequent attempts to marginalize him politically.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>PTI&#8217;s popularity and public defiance:<\/strong>&nbsp;Khan highlights PTI&#8217;s success in by-elections,&nbsp;mass rallies with record female participation,&nbsp;and its consistent high opinion polls despite facing repression.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Economic turmoil under the current government:<\/strong>&nbsp;The current administration is blamed for worsening inflation,&nbsp;currency devaluation,&nbsp;and economic instability,&nbsp;contrasting it with PTI&#8217;s record of growth and international praise during their rule.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Political targeting of PTI:<\/strong>&nbsp;Khan mentions numerous forms of harassment and intimidation tactics used against PTI,&nbsp;including assassination attempts,&nbsp;arrests,&nbsp;torture,&nbsp;and false legal cases.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Nawaz Sharif&#8217;s return and alleged deal:<\/strong>&nbsp;Khan suspects a pact between Nawaz Sharif and the establishment to ensure his acquittal and electoral support,&nbsp;but believes the public remains opposed to him and the &#8220;selected&#8221; government.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Unfair campaign conditions:<\/strong>&nbsp;Khan emphasizes the unequal campaign restrictions placed on PTI,&nbsp;with him in solitary confinement and party activities severely curtailed,&nbsp;while other parties enjoy free campaigning.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Potential for further instability:<\/strong>&nbsp;Holding elections under these unfair conditions is predicted to be disastrous,&nbsp;leading to further political and economic turbulence.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Solution: Fair and free elections:<\/strong>&nbsp;Khan emphasizes the urgent need for fair and free elections to bring political stability,&nbsp;the rule of law,&nbsp;and democratic reforms,&nbsp;highlighting this as the only way out of Pakistan&#8217;s crisis.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Overall, the column presents a bleak picture of Pakistan&#8217;s political landscape, with Imran Khan portraying the current government as illegitimate and undemocratic, and advocating for free and fair elections as the only path towards stability and progress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A devastating interview giving behind the bars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5829,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"blocksy_meta":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atmateen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5827"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atmateen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atmateen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atmateen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atmateen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5827"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/atmateen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5827\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5832,"href":"https:\/\/atmateen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5827\/revisions\/5832"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atmateen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atmateen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atmateen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atmateen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}