Farzana Shaikh

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Supporters of former prime minister Imran Khan's party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) stage a protest against the results of the 8 February elections, in Islamabad, Pakistan on 17 February 2024. Photo by Muhammed Semih Ugurlu/Anadolu via Getty Images.

MundoOriente Próximo,

After days of intense political bargaining following one of the most contested elections in Pakistan’s history, agreement was reached this week on a five-party minority coalition government led by former interim prime minister, Shahbaz Sharif, of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

The protracted negotiations between the centre-right PML-N and the centre-left Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) were complicated by a split mandate that failed – against all expectations – to produce a clear winning majority for the PML-N. Its credibility, and by extension the standing of the coalition, has been strongly challenged by former prime minister Imran Khan, leader of the Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), which denounced the coalition as ‘mandate thieves’.…  Seguir leyendo »

Flags of Pakistan's political parties are displayed for sale at a market in Lahore on 13 January 2024 ahead of the country's general elections. Photo by ARIF ALI/AFP via Getty Images.

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Pakistan faces formidable economic and political challenges, but without a credible result in the elections scheduled for 8 February it stands little chance of overcoming them. The repercussions could extend beyond Pakistan’s borders, affecting regional stability and increasing pressure on Western governments as a growing number of Pakistanis leave their country in search of a more secure future abroad.

Questions about the integrity of the polls come amid widespread allegations of interference in the electoral process by Pakistan’s powerful military establishment, said to be keen to engineer its preferred outcome.

The military is reported to be working in concert with the judiciary to keep former prime minister – and its former protégé – Imran Khan, out of the elections.…  Seguir leyendo »

Imran Khan after appearing at the high court in Lahore on 17 March 2023. Photograph: Aamir Qureshi/AFP/Getty Images

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The arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan on charges of corruption has sent shock waves throughout Pakistan and the wider world, raising the prospect of an imminent disintegration of the country’s fragile social and political fabric.

For many, however, it also speaks to a well-established tradition: the incarceration of political leaders who fall foul of the country’s all-powerful military.

Khan’s long list of predecessors in this category include former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif, Benazir Bhutto and Pakistan’s first freely elected prime minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto; all spent extended periods behind bars. For some, detention ended with tragedy. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was hanged in 1979 by a military dictatorship after a controversial trial; his daughter, Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated in 2007 just weeks after enduring house arrest under the orders of another military regime.…  Seguir leyendo »

Supporters gather near the home of Imran Khan on 26 July. Photo: Getty Images.

MundoOriente Próximo,

Whatever the prospects of a ‘new’ Pakistan emerging from this week’s general election, expectations of a major shift in the country’s regional policies are likely to be ill-founded. The prime minister-elect, Imran Khan of the Pakistan Justice Party (PTI), in his victory speech on 26 July signalled as much, stressing continuity in foreign policy.

The reasons for this are not hard to establish.

For decades Pakistan’s regional foreign policies vis-à-vis India and Afghanistan have been the preserve of the military and treated as extensions of national security. Attempts by elected governments to craft independent regional policies or initiate dialogue with neighbours, notably India, have entailed heavy penalties.…  Seguir leyendo »

Activists from Tehreek-e-Labbaik ya Rasool Allah protest in Islamabad on 21 November. Photo: Getty Images.

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Yet again the world must look on in bewilderment as Pakistan emerges battered and bruised from a crisis precipitated by an obscure theological dispute that has forced the resignation of the country’s law minister and led to the dramatic mobilization of religious forces directed by the ponderous sounding Tehreek-e-Labbaik ya Rasool Allah (or Movement in the Service of the Prophet [Muhammad]).

Presiding over this version of Pakistan’s own passion play is the country’s military establishment. It has been credited with brokering a deal that ended the crisis, but on terms that raise doubts about the government’s Islamic credentials and leave it vulnerable to an early demise.…  Seguir leyendo »

Nawaz Sharif. Photo: Getty Images.

MundoOriente Próximo

Every once in a while Pakistan’s contested legacy of a state founded in the name of 'Islam' bursts into the public realm to threaten the country’s fragile democratic culture. From its laws of evidence which deny equal status to the testimony of Muslim women to its laws against blasphemy which penalise its non-Muslim minorities — both introduced by a military dictatorship in the 1980s — Pakistan’s appeal to 'Islamic injunctions' has long served its non-elected leaders to mould the political system in line with their own preferences.

The disqualification by the Supreme Court of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on grounds of 'violating Islamic injunctions' under Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution — also introduced under a military dictatorship in 1985 — which requires a member of parliament to be 'honest' and 'morally upright' (ameen and sadiq), is no exception.…  Seguir leyendo »

While all-out war with India is unlikely, there has been a noticeable hardening of tone in Pakistan. Photo by Getty Images.

MundoAsiaInternacionalTerrorismo Internacional, ,

Pakistan has placed its forces on high alert after being denounced by India as a ‘terrorist state’ complicit in an attack on a military base at Uri in Indian-administered Kashmir. The accusations have been strongly denied by Pakistan and fuelled a war of words, raising bilateral tensions to levels not seen since the Mumbai terror attacks of 2008.

The attacks coincide with an upsurge in protests in Kashmir triggered by the death of Burhan Wani, a media-savvy and seemingly popular militant. For Pakistan, Kashmir lies at the heart of its disputed relationship with India. Pakistan has traditionally argued that Kashmir needs to be ‘resolved’ to enable the relationship to improve.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo,

President Musharraf is in a bind. Amid the bloody devastation caused by his decision to storm the Red Mosque in Islamabad, he will be seeking desperately to salvage his reputation. The badly battered military ruler of Pakistan needs to be seen as a bastion against extremism if he is to win support from his Western allies, especially the United States.

But Musharraf’s actions in power have set Pakistan dangerously off course. The appeasement policies of successive regimes – cultivating Islamist groups to shore up their fragile legitimacy – have bedevilled the country. It now faces its worst crisis since the secession of Bangladesh in 1971.…  Seguir leyendo »