ISLAMABAD - Would-be Prime Minister Imran Khan would have died to take oath on August 14 or even August 13 to call it a ‘real Independence Day’ on taking charge but the dream remained a dream.
For years, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief pledged to ‘liberate’ the nation from the ‘oppressive’ rulers and his victory at a time when the country prepared to celebrate the Independence Day gave a new catchphrase to the party enthusiasts who wanted to mark it as the ‘real’ Independence Day. For Imran Khan, it was a ‘desire.’
To fulfill Khan’s dream and appease the Pakstan Threek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers, the party stalwarts made efforts to fix the PM-elect’s oath-taking on August 14 but the opposition parties pressed the caretaker government not to let Khan politicise the national day. There was also no support from the establishment for the unprecedented oath-taking.
The Pakstan Threek-e-Insaf won the July 25 polls and the official results were announced only on July 28. The PTI, short of a simple majority, took some days to finalise deals with the smaller parties and independent lawmakers-elect.
After claiming majority in the National Assembly, the PTI started efforts for an early inaugural session of the National Assembly so that Imran Khan could take oath on the eve or on the Independence Day but the under pressure caretaker government did not oblige the winners.
President Mamnoon Hussain, a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz loyalist, finally summoned the National Assembly session on August 13 on the advice of caretaker Prime Minister Nasirul Mulk but it will take a few days before Imran Khan will take oath as the premier. Officials said Khan was likely to take oath on August 18 as the 21st elected Prime Minister.
At the inaugural session, the new elected members of NA will take oath. This will be followed by the elections of the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker and then the leader of the house.
The PTI has officially won 116 of the 270 general National Assembly seats, emerging as the largest political party. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz grabbed 64 seats and the Pakistan People’s Party won 43 National Assembly seats.
The Muttahida Majlis Amal secured 12 seats and Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e-Azam), Balochistan National Party, Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan, and Balochistan Awami Party secured 4, 3, 6, and 4 seats respectively. Other smaller groups also have nominal representation.
After all efforts failed, Pakstan Threek-e-Insaf leader Fawad Chaudhry announced that Imran Khan will take oath next week but not on August 14. The August 18 date is also not insignificant. It will be the first day after the death anniversary of former military ruler Ziaul Haq, who introduced the Sharif family into power some decades back.
On August 17, 1988, Ziaul Haq died when a Pakistani Air Force plane exploded in midair and crashed shortly after taking off from Bahawalpur Airport. He had already ruled Pakistan for 11 years, largely under martial law, since taking power in a military coup in 1977.
It was the end of an era which redefined the country’s political history. After his death, the political system was defined and shaped by two-parties – the PPP and the PML-N. Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif took turns to rule the country between 1988 and 1999 before Pervez Musharraf’s military coup.
After Musharraf’s exit in 2008, the PPP won again and the PML-N swept the 2013 polls. In the July elections, both the parties could not win enough seats to even form a surprise coalition government.
Now, after almost three decades, the political structure of Pakistan that was dominated by these two parties is finally coming to end. In a way, Imran Khan is replacing the remnants of Ziaul Haq – the PML-N.
Sadly however, the PTI will bank on former cronies of Ziaul Haq to form the government – the PML (Quaid-e-Azam) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.
SHAFQAT ALI