Prime Minister Imran Khan has secured a vote of confidence from a House where the entire opposition was absent. The way the ‘victory’ was manoeuvred is indicative of the paranoia in the government leadership caused by suspicions about the loyalty of PTI’s own lawmakers as well as of those belonging to the allied parties. The entire lot of PTI lawmakers were reminded by the PM in writing that anyone failing to vote for him would be deprived of his seat under Article 63. The ruling coalition’s MNAs, numbering 178, were herded together a day before the vote, and taken from place to place under strict supervision for lunch and dinner to ensure that none could communicate with anyone outside the group. In the morning they were carted away to Parliament House where they were to take breakfast with PM before being called for voting. All the 178 voted for Mr Khan.
Mr Khan has won the confidence vote but lost the moral high ground. Among those who voted for him were the 16 lawmakers he had accused of selling themselves for money just a day earlier. The identities of some the backstabbers had already been revealed to him. He could not expel them because without the support of these corrupt lawmakers his government would fall. He preferred to remain in government with the help of the corrupt rather than pack up and go home and be known as a principled politician
The PM has all along trumpeted that he enjoyed the backing of the establishment. It suited him to hold a meeting with the COAS and DG ISI to assure all and sundry that despite his failure to get a majority vote from the National Assembly for his nominee he still commanded the support of those who matter. This has provided an opportunity to his opponents to accuse him of dragging the establishment into politics while calling upon the establishment to restrict themselves to their constitutional role.
The treatment meted out to PML(N) leaders while they were holding a press conference, allegedly by PTI workers, is highly condemnable. Videos show PML(N) leader Marriyum Aurangzeb being manhandled and kicked, a shoe thrown on Ahsan Iqbal and a scuffle between the alleged PTI workers and prominent PML(N) lawmakers. This is a dangerous trend that characterized Fascism and needs to be checked before it is too late.
