Islamabad: The year 2022 has been fast-paced, hyperactive and filled with political controversies, rivalries, protests, long marches, played around the power quarters of the powerful military establishment, the judiciary and Parliament.And the one political figure who has been the centre stage, blue-eyed influencer throughout 2022 is former Prime Minister Imran Khan, The cricketer-turned-politician has been in the news for all reasons, ranging from sane to insane, right to wrong and twisted to sorted.
In April 2022, Imran Khan, who was the sitting Prime Minister of Pakistan at the time, was tipped to not only become the first premier to complete his full term in office, but was also seen as the preferred favourite to continue his government through the next tenure, retaining his political power for straight ten years.
But his hopes were shattered on April 10 when was ousted from office through a Vote of No Confidence (VONC), put forward and campaigned for by his arch rival political parties alliance, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), who not only successfully de-seated Khan, but also made him the first premier in the country’s parliamentary history to be removed from the post via a VONC.
That month, political temperatures were at their peak as the then opposition parties, including Pakistan People Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), had taken out big anti-Imran Khan and anti-government long marches, demanding early elections and calling him a “selected” Prime Minister by the military establishment.
The 13-party PDM alliance not only defected coalition partners of the Imran Khan government but also defected dozens of PTI members of the National Assembly as well, paving the way to oust his regime.
But for Khan, the opposition benches did not matter as he had the nod from the military establishment and the then sitting Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Qamar Jawed Bajwa.
After Bajwa and the establishment had numerous disagreements on policies with Khan, the establishment switched sides, leaving Khan’s coalition and his ruling party position toothless, which led to the fall of his premiership like a house of cards against the PDM’s VONC.
While all seemed to be over for Khan and celebrations erupted within the PDM, who had formed a coalition government and made PML-N’s Shehbaz Sharif the Prime Minister of the country, the cricketer-turned-politician came out blazing as he accused the sitting government for being part of a bigger regime change conspiracy, led by the US and implemented by PDM and the military establishment in Pakistan.
Khan claimed his government was removed because he refused to provide military and air bases to the US after their withdrawal from Afghanistan and because he wanted a free and independent foreign policy for Pakistan.
He carried the anti-US and regime change narrative, relating it with a cypher, with meeting details between then Pakistan’s Ambassador in the US Asad Majeed and Assistant Secretary Bureau of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu, in which clear and serious reservations of Biden administration with Imran Khan were mentioned and reference to the VONC was also given.
“Donald Lu told Asad Majeed… If Imran Khan is removed through the Vote of No Confidence, then we (US) may forgive Pakistan. But if he (Imran Khan) remains in power, then relations between us will worsen”, Khan repeated in massive public gatherings and rallies held across the country.
Khan’s narrative was well-received by his supporters and the masses at large, who vowed to stand with Khan and push the PDM government into early elections.
His popularity gained massive support and momentum as he carried his anti-US and regime change narrative, holding massive public gathering in all parts of the country and calling out the PDM government to hold immediate and early elections, otherwise he would bring the country to a standstill in every possible way.
While public support remained at large with Khan, he also slammed the establishment for becoming party to the regime change conspiracy, to the extent that he publicly started taunting the establishment with names like “neutral”, “gatekeepers”, “dirty harry”, “Mr.X”.
It would not be wrong to mention that Pakistan’s powerful military establishment has never been publicly ridiculed, criticized, slammed and shamed by any political party or figure.. the way it witnessed public uproar, resentment, hatred and anger by the masses, flared up by Imran Khan’s regime change narrative.
Social media campaigns and presence of Khan’s political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is by far the strongest in comparison to other political opponents and it was used effectively to engage and spread the regime change narrative on the screens of every single person, who had access to information on a hand-held mobile phone.
Audio Leaks Fiasco
Khan’s life has been viewed more as a celebrity image and a humanitarian philanthropist than a politician. From being a charming sportsperson, marriage to Jemina Goldsmith of the famous Goldsmith family … to his second marriage with BBC’s weather girl Reham Khan and then to religiously driven spiritual healer Bushra Bibi.
Khan’s life and decisions related to his marital status have shifted from one pole to the other. His marriage with Reham ended in a bitter follow-up as she wrote a book with explicit and inside details of his drug addiction and various other aspects about him as a person.
A PTI member had alsoaccused him of sexual harassment through sexually explicit text messages, videos and telephonic conversations.
This part of Imran Khan’s life still continues to be his worst enemy as during the year 2022, various audio leaks have also surfaced in which the former premier is having intimate conversations with women.
Many believe that such audio leaks are part of the ruling PDM government’s effort to cut down the popularity of Khan among the masses, who see him as a pious leader.
Other than the explicit tapes, many other audio leaks of conversations about forging cypher details, creating a false regime change narrative, illegally buying and selling off expensive gifts from other countries to the premier and use of the Prime Minister’s office and its authority to get hidden financial gains for himself through his wife and her best friend, Farah Khan aka Farah Gogi, have already been widely debated and talked about on social media and public gatherings.
Imran Khan has slammed these leaks and called them fake, concocted and an attempt to malign his character and image.
The Long Marches & Assassination Attempt
Since his ouster, Imran Khan has carried out two long-marches with a plan to pressure the federal government to dissolve the assemblies and announce early general elections.
His first long-march was dealt with a strong defensive system put in place by the government in Punjab province and the capital Islamabad, where protesters were dealt with tear gases and baton charges, leaving Imran Khan to spearhead the march from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa capital Peshawar to Islamabad and forced to not stage an indefinite protest sit-in in the capital.
His first march ended with a handover of another deadline to the government to deliberate and announce a date for early elections in the country.
His second march was from Lahore to Rawalpindi, in which, a suspected assassination attempt on Imran Khan’s life, injured him in Wazirabad Punjab, and pushed him into immediate medical attention, followed by a bed rest at his residence in Lahore.
But his political campaign continued as he addressed his supporters and long-march participants on a daily basis through video-link.
Dissolution of Provincial Assemblies
Imran Khan’s political struggle to regain power had also ended its final phase and as the year comes to an end, he seems to have played his final card aimed to pressure the government to announce early elections in the country.
In the latest, Imran Khan has announced dissolution of two main provincial assemblies, which include the country’s largest provincial assembly of Punjab and his stronghold province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Imran Khan has said that he will not remain a part of the current democratic setup, which he claims as illegal, corrupt and filled with looters of the country.
Imran Khan announced that he would dissolve both the provincial assemblies on December 23, which he claimed would trigger a political vacuum in at least 66 per cent of the country.
But with a coalition partner party, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi in Punjab, who assumed the post after being nominated as candidate of PTI, does not seem to be willing to surrender power and intends to complete his tenure in office.
And just when the Punjab Assembly dissolution date was approaching, the opposition parties played their move, submitting a no-confidence motion against the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Punjab Assembly, while a notice for Vote of Confidence has also been demanded by the Governor of the province from the Chief Minister.
And now, with 2022 coming to an end, Imran Khan’s politically adventurous run through 2022 is expected to continue in 2023.
But the fact remains — Imran Khan has remained relevant in Pakistani politics throughout 2022, be it for the right or wrong reasons.
Khan’s relevance, charisma and the strategy of staying in the news every day of the year, certainly and undoubtedly makes him the most wanted face on every television screen domestically and internationally.
And with 2023 being an election year in Pakistan, it cannot exist without the political might, maneuvers, twists and turns of Imran Khan’s pivotal political image, celebrity level character and his roaring struggle to return to power.
–IANS