PTI dominated the politics of the period, despite being in the opposition. It also triggered a second court case against PML-N and its core members such as Nawaz Sharif and his family — this time, for an alleged money laundering scheme. PTI vowed to bring justice by prosecuting the corrupt Nawaz oligarchy. This movement gained credibility after Nawaz family members were linked to the leak of the Panama Papers Cheema, During the year-long trial, PTI was again all over the media in an effort to gather public support and call out the sitting government.
Any state institution or media group that sided with the Sharifs was deemed corrupt or serving the oligarchy. Photo: Awais Khan. Within 24 hours of the ruling, thousands rallied to Islamabad to attend the event.
This was portrayed as a victory of the people — not the party. Between , PTI came into direct confrontation with police, in particular the Punjab police, during its mass protests. PTI was able to muster support that went beyond religious-cultural divides. The calls of the anti-establishment parties had resonated with all sectors of the populace. Unlike other opposition parties — for example, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement MQM that relied on ethnicity alone religious parties like JI — PTI was able to muster support that went beyond religious-cultural divides.
The calls of the anti-establishment parties had resonated with all sectors of the populace Ahmed, ; Judah It had promised various incentives to these factions, securing their loyalty — for example, the South Punjab parties were promised a separate province, [2] and after the election many key posts from Punjab and the Federal Government were handed to these factions Adnan, I want to win.
I am fighting elections in Pakistan, not Europe. However, all that glitters is not gold: PTI struggled to meet its pledges. Matters were made worse by the inflation rate at 7 percent, unemployment at 9 percent — it was worse among youth — and the rising prices of petrol and utilities Eusufzye, ; Jamal, Apart from the economic disaster, PTI also failed to live up to its most basic promises.
None of the socialist programs inspired by Islamism panned out. When faced with the realities of a large population and nearly empty state coffers, the party has had to backtrack. Populist rhetoric is difficult to translate into actual socio-economic change.
In the international arena, Pakistan has found no ally other than China and Turkey to support its claims about the disputed territory Janjua, On its accountability and institutional reformist agendas, the party has also failed to meet its promises.
In addition, PTI has failed its liberal supporters, too. Moreover, while the PTI government flaunts its peace initiative of welcoming Sikh pilgrims to sacred landmarks such as Kartarpur, the country sees regular forced conversions, abductions, target killing, and murders of Shia Muslims and non-Muslims.
PTI remains silent on most of these issues. While in the opposition, PTI blamed the previous governments for not collecting the revenue. When populists fail to deliver, they deflect blame and portray themselves as victims. PTI has also directly targeted the opposition. To ensure its survival, the party is not shy about undermining the institutional integrity of other state pillars, proof of its populist, as opposed to democratic, values.
From its inception, PTI has given support to the army, and this was visible when the judiciary was targeted by PTI members after the courts handed out a death sentence to President General Pervez Musharraf.
In contrast to their pervious stance on Musharraf in the s, after assuming power, PTI supports the institution. It is an honour-based institution. Imran Khan has challenged the writ of the court by objecting to the Supreme Court blocking the extension of the current army chief Farmer, The government has also targeted the head of Jang Group, Mir Shakeel-ur-Rehman, who was arrested on corruption charges in March ; journalists within the group had dared to publish content critical of the government.
PTI has evolved through three stages of development. It was an activist party at a time when civil society was highly subdued under a military regime. Through modest civil disobedience, it graduated to the status of a formidable opposition party.
In a country where politicians are conventionally corrupt, relations with neighbouring countries are strained, social welfare is absent, Islamism is rampant, and economic decline is a constant, PTI has successfully positioned itself as the voice of the people.
It invited people with open arms to lively rallies where the leader spoke the language of the people , voicing their concerns and worries and presenting simplistic solutions they understood. It clearly identified the enemy and positioned itself as the solution to all problems. PTI has used religion, anti-West sentiments, its outsider status, support for welfare, and a host of social issues to craft a populist narrative that appealed to the people. Its third evolution — becoming the government — has been a turbulent process.
PTI has broken several of its promises. To deflect blame, it has used oppressive tactics, blanketing and muffling the media , charactering COVID as the cause of its failures, and externalizing blame. It has blamed Western and foreign influences and called opposition parties anti-state and anti-democratic. July 21, July 17, December 20, May 11, May 30, Abbasi, Ansar.
Adnan, Imran. May 8, Afzal, Madiha. Ahmed, Bilal. Cheema, Hasham. Daudzai, Khan, Riaz. May 2, Party position of the provincial assemblies as of December — Source: Election Commission of Pakistan.
Nawaz Sharif, from the prison, called the results «tainted and dubious». Arif Alvi, was elected as the 13th president of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Alvi got votes out of from the members of the National Assembly and Senate. He then left politics and later joined the PTI in as one of its founding members. Aasiya Noreen, a Christian woman commonly known as Asia Bibi, was convicted of blasphemy, arrested and imprisoned in She had allegedly insulted the Prophet Muhammad after an argument with Muslim co-workers while harvesting berries in Ittan Wali, her village in the Sheikhupura District near Lahore in Punjab.
She was then sentenced to death by hanging by a Pakistani court in Asia Bibi was the first woman in Pakistan to be sentenced to death for blasphemy. Extensive media coverage was also granted to the case, and many campaigns and petitions were launched to protest her imprisonment.
After having spent eight years on death row, the Supreme Court acquitted Asia for insufficient evidence in October In Pakistan, blasphemy against any recognised religion is prohibited by the penal code, and penalties range from a fine to death. In the following days, the government of Pakistan reached an agreement with the Tehreek-e-Labbaik, the political party which was leading the protests triggered by the decision of the Supreme Court.
In other words, her safety in Pakistan could not be guaranteed. Anyone trying assertively to challenge the blasphemy laws has been assassinated. After he had turned himself into the police, Qadri was executed yet many hard-line Muslims held him as a martyr. Lawyers defending those accused of blasphemy have also been killed, like the regional coordinator for the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Rashed Rehman. Infrastructural investments associated with the CPEC have boosted economic growth and determined an increase in imports of construction materials, so weakening the national currency and pushing inflation higher.
The Pakistan-based cross-border terror is a top priority for the Trump administration because it targets US troops in Afghanistan. In February , the US indicated that Pakistan could be placed on a watch list of countries that are not countering terrorism financing enough.
In early August , the US suspended the training and educational programmes addressing Pakistan military officers that had been part of the security assistance for more than a decade. Almost one-third of registered voters in the country belongs to the age group of years Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Population by 5 years age groups.
Militancy was gradually contained in the years of his premiership. The Panama Papers scandal, or «Panamagate», originated in from a leak of files from a Panama-based provider of offshore services, Mossack Fonseca. The Supreme Court appointed a five-member bench and ordered an investigation into the allegations. His case was then referred to the anti-corruption authority — the National Accountability Bureau NAB — for further investigations.
According to the verdict, Abbasi had made an error in his declaration of the value of his home in Islamabad. Abbasi was convicted for misusing kg of the controlled chemical ephedrine he obtained for his company, Grey Pharmaceutical, in The court ruled that kg could be accounted for and Abbasi had failed to provide evidence of the use of the remaining quantity.
As mentioned, in the run-up to the elections, army and intelligence officers were reported to be threatening politicians from competitor parties, so clearing the path for Mr. Also, accusations of lack of transparency in the ballot counting were reported. As of December , Asia Bibi was reported to be in hiding in the country. The FATF is an intergovernmental body that was established in to counter money laundering, terrorism-financing and other related threats.
It does not issue legally binding sanctions, yet countries placed on its list face international scrutiny and pressure. IVA Pakistan general elections and the government of Imran Khan. Marco Corsi. This further strengthened his image as a populist outsider who was willing to diverge from business as usual. I want to win. I am fighting elections in Pakistan, not Europe. Two major developments occurred when Imran Khan secured his tenure in the elections.
Khan pledged to reform KPK over the next five years. The party implemented new policies, include welfare reforms, a reformist agenda for public office, an effort to improve technology, and calls for justice. The technocratic solutions in KPK, made to directly benefit the people , were placed in sharp contrast to the infrastructure-led developments made in Punjab, the stronghold of the Sharif brothers and the ruling party.
Unfortunately for Khan and the PTI, it was soon clear that his populist agenda was not easily translatable into effective policies. Further, to appease the JI faction of their coalition, Khan turned a blind eye to the Islamization of school curriculums in the province; rather than rehabilitation and deradicalization — a PTI promise — public education was Islamized, with Quran classes made compulsory in schools Abbasi, ; Dawn, He carefully marketed it as holistic, transparent, cost effective, and for the people ; in reality, the project was behind schedule and over budget Khan, It was an effort to gain anti-establishment support.
Tahir-ul-Qadri for a mass sit-in in Islamabad. The usual jalsas were attended by thousands. They were no longer just for the middle class, but the working class, too. Khan gained support for his naya Pakistan agenda. His plan merged three key elements: Islamism, conspiracies, and a promise for welfare reforms. The country was seeing price hikes of basic commodities despite huge foreign investments being made by China.
Khan merged the ideologies of welfare-ism and Islamism when he promised that naya Pakistan would be modelled on the state of Medina, from the times of Prophet Mohammad. Khan introduced a highly ambitious day agenda which promised to bring back looted wealth and to implement welfare policies and governance for the people Pakistan Today, Nawaz Sharif you shall be held accountable!
You all shall be held accountable! Nawaz Sharif you will be the first one held accountable and after that each and every one shall be accounted for! In addition to the mass rallies, Khan pushed court cases against Nawaz Sharif and his family members; this led to the former being disqualified from office.
Like most populists, Khan promised deliverance without clear plans, yet the pro-public sentiment of his statements earned considerable support among the disaffected populace. By , Khan had transformed into a kaptan by promising a Muslim welfare state where all the corrupt sinners would be jailed and Pakistan would no longer be a beggar or a puppet of America.
Faced with constant U-turns, Khan has also used a blend of conspiracy theories and misuse of state institutions to distract from the shortcomings of his leadership and government. Imran Khan, addresses a press briefing on April 20, in Islamabad. Photo: Jahanzaib Naiyyer. Since assuming office as prime minister, Khan has done something of a U-turn. Since coming to power, the PTI has been unable to deliver on any of its promises, other than building a special task force to recover looted national wealth Dawn, Promises of shelter, social welfare, youth job creation, access to quality education, and other ideals have been left on the drawing board or halted Dawn, For instance, the promise to end corruption in the first days vanished.
Such rebranding is a common practice in Pakistan. Not only has Imran Khan been unable to instil change, but under his leadership, a lot of backtracking from promises has been made. Two examples include Dr. Faced with constant U-turns, Khan has used a blend of conspiracy theories and misuse of state institutions to distract from the shortcomings of his leadership and government. While there are credible accusations of corruption, PTI has mostly escaped scrutiny despite similar allegations Farooq, ; Shar; , Zubair, Khan has also been directly confrontational towards the judiciary.
He also challenged the death sentence handed out to dictator Pervez Musharraf. The opposition parties have formed a coalition to challenge his office. Khan and PTI have also deflected attention by externalizing blame.
Simultaneously, he has also externalized blamed, pointing the finger at India for allegedly sponsoring terrorism in the country and lobbying against Pakistan in the global arena. All the while, they believe his claims; a majority of Pakistanis view India as a malicious actor.
Imran Khan has used the state apparatus to launch witch hunts against political rivals and silence opposition. This is dangerous in a country where, historically, the separation of power between the judiciary, parliament, the state bureaucracy, and security forces are muddled. An example of this is the Single National Curriculum Plan SNCP , which aims to bring equity to the education system by having a single curriculum for public and private schools.
In a country where quality education is a privilege few enjoy, SNCP is a symbol of equity and the promise of justice in naya Pakistan. At the same time, its highly Islamized aspects — including teaching Quranic verses and the life and sayings of the Prophet from a Sunni interpretation — appease the religious sentiments of the populace.
Thus, in one policy proposal, Khan combines anti-Western and anti-elitism with Islamism and reform. In three years, Khan has used the state apparatus to launch witch hunts against political rivals and silence opposition. This latter group includes traitors and Indian spies, members of the elite , or those brainwashed by Western sex, drugs, and rock and roll. His supporters are overwhelmingly young again, a majority of Pakistanis are under 30 , which makes his support worrying.
To cover his shortcomings, like other populist leaders, he has misused power and deflected blame to imagined external threats.
April 7, May 29, May 11, Jan 2, May 30, Oct 2, Aafreedi, J. Abbasi, Ansar. Afzal, Madiha. Boone, Jon. Oct 14, Butt, I. Chabba, Seerat. Chowdhry, Aisha and Houreld, Katharine.
Farmer, Ben.
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