Regional/International Affairs:
By N. P. Upadhyaya
Kathmandu: The high political “midnight” drama staged by Pakistan’s Opposition combined against the sitting Prime Minister Imran Khan has come to an end with the unceremonious or otherwise ouster of Imran Khan as Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Perhaps he is the first-ever Pak Premier to have been ejected through a vote of the no-confidence motion.
The Apex Court ruling made on April 7, strictly not only declared “unconstitutional” the ruling made by the Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri but also, very unusual and surprisingly ordered the National Assembly Speaker not only to resume the duties of the NA but also instructed that the Assembly must convene by 10:30 AM on Saturday and that the Assembly can’t be “prorogued” before the voting of the no-confidence motion moved against Imran Khan.
Can the judiciary go to this extent?
Strikingly, a few months earlier in Nepal, yet another South Asia plagued country, the Supreme Court had ordered almost to approve Sher Bahadur Deuba as the next Prime Minister of Nepal replacing the sitting K. P. Oli.
Some even claimed that the “express” orders from the Nepali Apex Court were made to get the US Mega Project Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) approved by anyone other than Prime Minister KP Oli, the intimate friend of India’s RAW agency Chief Samanta Kumar Goyal.
Indian spy Goyal had “proven” direct access to PM Oli’s private residence in Kathmandu.
In a way, the RAW ran the Nepali politics as long as K.P. Oli as Nepal’s PM.
The same applies to PM Deuba who freshly paid a courtesy call on RAW chief Goyal in Varanasi prior to his return to Kathmandu from Varanasi, India.
Whosoever is the Nepali Prime Minister, it is the RAW that has called the shots in Nepal since 2006.
The Monarchy in Nepal was overthrown by India only to keep Nepal under its “permanent” grip through RAW men in Kathmandu’s politics.
Others added that since Sher Bahadur is close to the US lobby and thus US administration preferred Deuba for getting the MCC approved.
However, this is yet to be substantiated as some say that simply the US is being blamed by those who apparently were close to the Chinese lobby in Kathmandu.
Needless to say, in Nepal, three foreign alien lobbies are in action: The Indian RAW agency, the Chinese intelligence and the next is the US lobby.
Obviously, these three competing lobbies are trying hard to increase their sphere of influence and secure space for themselves in Kathmandu’s politics.
Of all, observers say, the Indian agency, RAW, is strong as most of the Nepali leaders and some “vibrant” Nepali media were reportedly under its payroll.
While no questions were raised in Nepal about the Parliamentary authority, the Pakistani people more so the outgoing Speaker of the National Assembly apparently hinted to the Judiciary that “the Judiciary can’t dictate” its terms and conditions to the sovereign Assembly of Pakistan.
Yet, the Speaker acted as per the instructions of the Apex Court but on moral grounds “resigned” from his post citing that his resignation was linked with the “honor, sovereignty and prestige” of a sovereign Pakistan.
So by early morning Sunday, April 10, Imran Khan was no longer the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Strong rumours have it that one of the leaders of the Pakistani opposition to PM Khan, Shehbaz Sharif is to be the consensus candidate for the next Prime Minister of Pakistan. (He is already the New Pakistani Prime Minister).
Notably, Shehbaz Sharif is the younger brother of the London based former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif whom a sizeable section of the Pakistani population takes as an “absconder” who has looted Pakistan during the days of his Prime Ministership.
As per Imran Khan, Nawaz Sharif is a dacoit who has looted his own country and for fear of being penalized by the State has taken refuge in London, United Kingdom. However, this accusation remains to be substantiated.
With the end of the high drama, Nawaz Sharif is now safe as his own younger brother is the Prime Minister.
The ousted Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, all along remained vocal in accusing, deliberately or otherwise, the US administration that the entire episode of the “no-confidence motion” moved against him by the main and the combined Opposition had been orchestrated by the US administration and had been planned duly in Washington in early March last month. The US denied these accusations.
Talking to pressmen in Washington, Jalina Porter, deputy State Department spokesperson rejected PM Khan’s accusations stating, on April 8, “let me say bluntly there is no truth to these allegations”.
Much ahead of Jalina Porter’s rebuttal, on March 31 State Department Spokesperson Ned Price had already rejected Khan’s allegations, “When it comes to those allegations (implied Khan’s) there is no truth to them”.
Some Pakistani intellectuals privately told this scribe that the Pakistani Army Chief Qamar Bajwa’s differing opinions with PM Khan’s foreign policy stances made at the Islamabad Security Dialogue held last week itself spoke many things unspoken and that the intellectuals already guessed that “PM Khan’s days” were numbered. Here is a contradiction though.
The differing opinions of the two “pillars” of Pakistan at least worked in favor of Imran Khan in that Khan was largely by default disseminated as to have not been “selected or elevated” by the Pak Army as was being uninterruptedly accused by the Opposition more so by the cute and immature Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
Or it could also be that Army Chief Bajwa preferred to keep the US in good mood, hinting to the US that his institution may not necessarily toe the line acquired of late by PM Khan on the US administration.
Army Chief said, Pakistan shares a “long and excellent” strategic relationship with the US but it does not believe in “camp politics” and the country’s bilateral relations with its partners are not at the expense of its relationships with other nations.
Nepali observers say that “a close look at Army Chief Bajwa’s statement mentioned above is rather a ‘balanced’ one.
After all, the US has remained a strong ally of Pakistan and vice versa all over the Cold War era.
This should mean that Bajwa’s statement is the structured policy of the Pakistani state.
Thus the allegation that the Army Chief contradicted PM Khan’s vociferous line on the US stands dismissed.
Yet some others add that the Military was not happy with the appointment of the new Military Intelligence Chief by Prime Minister Imran Khan.
However, both Khans’ party, the PTI, and the Military denied this general presumption regarding the appointment of the intelligence chief.
Observers in Nepal recall that the all-powerful military institution of Pakistan has ruled the nuclear-armed country of 220 million people for almost half its nearly 76 year-history of existence in South Asia as an independent and sovereign Pakistan.
Most surprisingly, writes the ‘Indian Business Standard’ (April 10), “according to various media reports, PM Khan had made a botched attempt to replace Pakistan Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa to bring someone more pliant and sympathetic to his idea of foreign conspiracy and thus cling on to power”.
If one were to believe the Indian BS, then what is more than clear is that PM Khan and Army Chief sharply differed on the theory of “foreign conspiracy”. Let’s presume that it could be Indian propaganda as usual.
Interestingly, the Army also said concurrently that “Pakistan does not believe in “camp politics” and the country’s bilateral relations with its partners are not at the expense of its relationships with other nations”.
This account thus should cap all the sharp comments made as regards the differing opinions on the US by PM Khan and Army Chief.
Nepal as a good friend of the US and Pakistan also must not poke its nose in the Pakistani high drama that it was by all means.
Nevertheless, the events in Pakistan in some way or the other will impact Nepal and entire South Asia for sure.
How this impact comes to us and affects the entire South Asian region should be left to the “time” which will decide the impact of the upheaval in Pakistan on Nepal and the region as stated earlier.
On 21 June last year, in an interview with Axios HBO, Jonathan Swan, Imran Khan categorically stated that he would not allow the US to use Pakistan as a base for its Afghan operations.
Khan used the word “absolutely not” which was perhaps the first reason for the US to get annoyed with PM Khan.
Nepalese intellectuals claim that PM Khan’s ties with the US took a downward slide the next time he talked against the US while talking to a Russian Television network anchored by BOYKO OKSANA on February 22.
Khan’s hard-hitting comments aimed at the US may have obviously irritated the latter.
PM Khan and his foreign affairs lieutenant S.M. Qureshi told the Parliament that “prior to Khan’s departure to Moscow, the US national security advisor Jake Sullivan told his Pakistani counterpart Dr. Moeed Yusuf suggesting the latter to impress upon PM Khan not to proceed towards Moscow”.
Khan says how and why he should have avoided a pre-planned visit to Moscow when he didn’t know what was cooking in Moscow for tiny Ukraine?
Then comes the meeting of the Pak envoy in Washington Dr. Asad Majeed Khan with Donald Lu, the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs since 2021 on March 7.
Donald Lu, as per PM Khan impressed upon the Pak envoy to halt the visit of PM Khan to Moscow or face ‘consequences’.
Perhaps he is the same US minister Donald Lu who had stated some time back that if Nepal fails to approve the US MCC project, the US may review its ties with Nepal.
However, taking a serious note of the Pakistani upheaval, Russian Foreign Ministry official, Maria ZAKHAROVA at a press briefing on April 7 said, “the political turmoil in Pakistan has become the new flashpoint in global politics as Russia has alleged that the US is punishing PM Khan for visiting Moscow earlier this February”.
On April 5, Russia said that the US was meddling in the internal matters of Pakistan and that PM Khan was paying the price for being disobedient to the US and is being punished for visiting Moscow on February 23-25.
Notably, Khan met Vladimir Putin on February 25 and around the same time “Russian Military Operations began in Ukraine”.
PM Khan may have no inkling (?) as to what was in store for Ukraine from Russia, the enigmatic country as per Winston Churchill.
To be more specific Sir Winston Churchill had defined Russia as “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma”.
Lamenting PM Khan’s unceremonious ouster, Dr. Rizwan Naseer, a strategic security analyst talking to this scribe says, (sic), “a towering politician, a loved Prime Minister and a man of integrity faced no-confidence vote, presumably spurred by the US funding”.
Dr. Naseer further says, “The evidence stood valid as the national security committee endorsed it”.
“His sudden ungraceful ouster reflects, the MANTRA of conspiracy was valid. His departure though has ended his tenure as a PM, but a new and reinvigorated move has already set in to regain power with the two-thirds majority”, the security analyst concludes.
Let’s presume that Dr. Naseer’s impressions speak also of those who possess love and honor for the now-deposed Pakistan Prime Minister Khan.
However, sharp critics of PM Khan differ from Dr. Rizwan. In a way, the entire Pakistani nation stands polarized: half subscribing to the Khan’s “foreign conspiracy” theory and the other half summarily rejecting the hypothesis.
Yet veteran Pakistani diplomat Abdul Basit who has had a long stint in New Delhi, Tweeted stating that “Ups and downs are part of politics. It is to stay focused. Pakistan comes first. Challenges abound. We must all unite, depolarize and cleanse ourselves of intense political toxicity. Let nothing set back us as a nation”.
Much the same way, China had ditched King Gyanendra at the time of the Indian engineered political turmoil during 2005-6, unreliable China more or less ditched PM Khan when he needed China most.
Look how China says, “China is committed to non-interference policy,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing while replying to a question about whether Beijing is concerned that any change of leadership in Pakistan could impact its close strategic ties with Pakistan”.
Thus China can’t be an honest partner to Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and even Pakistan.
The US ire on authoritarian China is valid thus. China can’t be a reliable partner.
PTI supporter Speaker Asad Qaiser when prolonged the voting against PM Khan, he was, reportedly, told that he may be declared a “traitor” and imprisoned.
Speaker then in a rare case of solidarity with PM Khan decided to “resign” instead of initiating the voting process against PM Khan.
#PM Khan was ousted during midnight high drama which saw “vans” of policemen/military imprison all those who dilly-dallied the voting.
#Eye witnesses said that military men in uniforms were seen near the premises of the National Assembly which certainly scared the watchers and led them to “think” the unthinkable.
# Some even say that PM Khan was coerced by “some” unidentified” persons which terrified the Banigala’s Khan but yet faced the voting which went against him.
# Kunal Gaurav for the Hindustan Times, April 11, claims that in and around the Haveli (RED Bungalow) owned by Sheikh Rashid, a huge crowd chanted slogans “Chowkidar Chor Hai” against the Army.
When Rashid intervened the slogans disappeared, adds Kunal Gaurav.
Pindi, Karachi, Peshawar and Dir and many other places are in agitation in support of Imran Khan.
Likewise, UK, Canada and UAE, SA too saw demonstrations in favor of Imran Khan. This has a message.
# Chances remain fair that the ousted PM Khan and some of his key colleagues could be arrested.
#The PTI lawmakers may also resign en masse from the National Assembly. PM Khan and Dr. Shireen Mazari have resigned already.
All these put together, the South Asian region is awaiting seen and unseen troubles in the days and months ahead. India must have been smiling for some special reasons.
A disturbed Pakistan is what prefers India but India too shall feel the heat. Keep your fingers crossed.
Goodbye Captain Khan. Welcome, Shahbaz Sharif. Long live Nepal-Pakistan Friendship. That’s all.
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