Imran’s day of reckoning, cards stacked up against his govt
With the electoral numbers clearly not on his side, the retired cricketer may leave the house after his speech and submit his resignation to the President.
With Pakistan National Assembly set to take up the combined Opposition’s no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan Niazi today, the embattled cricketer has changed tactics and decided to be present in the House with PTI members, who are still with him, during the debate in the run-up to voting.
This means PM Niazi will take the high road one more time in the National Assembly by taking potshots at his political rivals, US "conspirators" and try to come out as the sole saviour of Pakistan. The most likely scenario will be that PM Niazi will use the Assembly podium to forcefully put down the Opposition with a speech to prepare the ground for the next general elections. With the electoral numbers clearly not on his side, the retired cricketer may leave the house after his speech and submit his resignation to the President. This move will ensure that the PM is not humiliated by electoral numbers stacked up against him.
Although Niazi on Saturday had asked the youth at large to agitate against the opposition members, whom he has labelled as traitors, outside the Assembly, and against the PTI turncoats outside their houses, the sudden change to attending the no-confidence debate could have been due to weak public response or stern advice from the Pakistan Army on fueling public sentiment towards violence on streets of Islamabad and Lahore.
While the Pak PM thinks that the masses at large and a section within Pak Army would be swayed by his anti-US tirade, such fears were dismissed by none other than the Pakistan Army Chief Gen Qamar Jawed Bajwa. Speaking at a public forum on Saturday, Gen Bajwa countered Niazi's rhetoric by castigating Russia for invading Ukraine and calling the US a close ally of Pakistan. To make matters worse for Niazi, Gen Bajwa virtually snubbed the PM by offering to peacefully discuss all outstanding disputes with India and was satisfied by the LoC ceasefire holding between the two archrivals for the past one year. By keeping the Army out of the political play in Pakistan, Gen Bajwa has maintained the dignity and decorum of the GHQ without soiling the Khakhi in a political cesspool.
With PM Niazi raving and ranting before the public since March 27, nothing new is expected from the cricketer except the use of colourful language to blast the Opposition and their imaginary co-conspirators in Washington.
