LAHORE - While the law and order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa poses a serious challenge to the PTI-led ruling coalition, Imran Khan’s unexpected involvement in legal battles may make it difficult for him to concentrate on finding solutions to the multiple problems of the province his inexperienced party has got a chance to govern.
The tension between the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf and the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (F) is escalating. Imran Khan has already announced that he will take Maulana Fazlur Rehman to court for alleging that the cricketer-turned-politician is an agent of the Jews and is following the Jewish agenda.
“We stand by what we have said that he has offshore links with a Jewish network that supports the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land,” said JUI-F spokesperson Jan Achakzai after Mr Khan’s decision to move court against the Maulana.
The former cricket hero is also mired in a legal battle with MQM chief Altaf Hussain. While the MQM has filed a defamation case in Sindh High Court (SHC) claiming damages of Rs 5 billion for levelling ‘unfounded allegations’ against Altaf Hussain, the PTI chief has filed a similar suit of double the amount against the leader who has been living in London in self-imposed exile since 1992.
A third case that Imran Khan is facing is the contempt notice issued to him by the Supreme Court. After change of schedule for the presidential election on the Supreme Court’s call, he had questioned the role of the apex court and the Election Commission in the general elections and used the word ‘shameful’ at a point in his statement. Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry took a suo motu notice and summoned him. A few days ago he appeared in court with an explanation that he intended no insult, but the bench expressed its dissatisfaction over the statement. He has been asked to come up with a new response by August 28.
The PTI chairman will submit his reply by the new timeline, but insists that he will not apologise to court as he had said nothing wrong.
Analysts say Mr Khan should not waste his time and energies on unnecessary things. Instead, he should try to come up to the expectations of the people who had voted his party. They argue that so far the new KPK government has not been able to take any major policy decision to rein in terrorists. The PTI leaders are even shy of condemning the terrorist attacks, probably because they support talks between the government and the Taliban and condemnations could throw a spanner in the works.
The federal government planned to hold an all-party conference to evolve a policy against terrorist activities and drone attacks. However, the PTI chief is averse to the idea on the plea that before going for such an initiative, the prime minister and the army chief should hold a closed-door meeting with him to discuss matters that cannot be taken up in an open session of all and sundry.
Sensing a difference of opinion between the prime minister and Imran Khan, the JUI-F chief has sought permission from Mian Nawaz Sharif to topple the PTI government. (In the past, the JUI-F has always been an ally of the PPP and an opponent of the PML-N. But this is the first time that Maulana Fazlur Rehman has forged an alliance with this party).
For the JUI-F, the PTI is the real rival in KPK. It thought it would be able to get power in the province after the previous ruling parties like the PPP and the ANP were rejected in the May 11 elections. The JUI-F had no idea that the PTI would emerge as the biggest party in the province, overshadowing other important players.
At present, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is not in favour of any move to dislodge the PTI-led setup. He has reportedly restrained the Maulana, saying the PML-N accepts the mandate of all parties elected in various provinces and will work with them.
Mr Sharif also wants to give the PTI full opportunity to deal with militancy and solve other problems of a province which has been sheltering millions of Afghan refugees for the past three decades.
Even if the JUI-F chief is given a go-ahead, it would not be easy for him to pull down the PTI-led setup.
The KP Assembly comprises 124 seats and any party wanting to come to power needs the support of at least 63 legislators.
The ruling coalition comprises PTI (56 seats after a number of independents joined it), Jamaat-i-Islami (eight seats), Qaumi Watan Party (eight Seats) and Awami Jamhoori Ittehad Pakistan (five seats). A lone member of the All Pakistan Muslim League of Gen Musharraf is also supporting the coalition, without being part of it.
The parties in the opposition are: PML-N (16 seats), JUI-F (16 seats), Awami National Party (four seats) and PPP (four seats).
It is said that Qaumi Watan Party and the Awami Jamhoori Ittehad Pakistan are with Imran Khan not because of any ideological reasons. They can withdraw their support if their interests so demand. However, the PTI government would survive with the support of the Jamaat-i-Islami alone.
As the political scene in Pakistan is quite murky, the PTI chief may need to rediscover prudence and avoid entangling himself in non-issues. It is particularly necessary when there are real challenges out there, which are of concern to the people.