Road ahead for Imran Khan seems rough, full of potholes

Islamabad [Pakistan], November 23 (ANI): Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s open blame game against the military institutions and name-calling Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa for “illegitimately” ousting his government in April this year has crossed all “red-lines” and rendered him an ‘enemy’ of Rawalpindi.
Consequently, the road ahead for Khan seems rough and full of potholes. He is fully aware that the establishment is unhappy with him, and the recent assassination bid could be a signal of what more is coming his way, reported Asian Lite International.
Ironically, Khan is now getting implicated in a corruption case himself, which can be seen as a ‘well-planned’ strategy to hit him where it hurts the most.
Therefore, the task at hand for the establishment is to weaken Imran Khan and stop him from participating in future elections, reported Asian Lite International.
In a recent development, Dubai-based Pakistani businessman Umar Zahoor claimed that he purchased gifts from Pakistan’s state depository or Toshakhana, including a USD 2 million worth Graff wristwatch gifted to Imran Khan by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman.
According to Pakistan’s law, any gift received from dignitaries of a foreign state must be put in the Toshakhana.
Last month, the Election Commission of Pakistan barred Imran Khan from running for political office for five years, after the government agency ruled that he misled officials about gifts he received from foreign leaders while in power.
Khan has claimed that these allegations are part of a “campaign to malign him,” reported Asian Lite International.
He has decided to sue Geo News and businessman Zahoor in courts in London and the UAE for their “character assassination”, saying he had “no hope in Pakistan’s justice system.”
These allegations will create more legal hurdles for Imran Khan and stop him from participating in elections, rendering him politically useless, reported Asian Lite International.
In the media interview, Khan conceded that he had differences with the military establishment on the issue of the “anti-corruption drive” against his political opponents.
Many analysts are suggesting that Imran Khan has nothing more to lose now. There will not be general elections in Pakistan before July 2023 and the new army chief will be extremely wary of Khan and his party. Furthermore, the whole Khan-Bajwa episode has put a serious question mark on the army establishment’s strategy of raising a ‘third’ political front in Pakistan.
The ‘hybrid’ regime experiment went terribly wrong and has proven very costly to the establishment’s image. Going forward, the future army chiefs in Pakistan will be extremely cautious in picking the country’s civilian leadership, likely relying on the known political stooges, fearing a repeat of the Imran Khan episode, reported Asian Lite International.
Many analysts are suggesting that Khan has finally understood that he will not have any role in electing the country’s new army chief. The only choice left for him is to mend ties with the security establishment as the new Chief of Army Staff takes the charge later this month. (ANI)