He lost the match but refused to accept the umpire’s decision. He said he would accept the decision of the Supreme Court permitting the vote of no confidence to proceed in the National Assembly, a vote he knew he was going to lose. But he would not accept the “imported government” that would replace his.
The fact that the two statements annulled each other could not have been lost to him. But he proceeded to make them anyway, knowing that his loyal base would take them at face value.
He had used the “cornered tiger” metaphor to rouse the Pakistan cricket team in the 1992 World Cup to a surprise victory over England. He had begun invoking that metaphor recently as MNA’s began to desert the coalition and he fortified it by promising “to fight to the last ball.”
Instead, he fled from the last ball. He hid in the Prime Minister’s house when the National Assembly convened to take the vote. He advised his cabinet ministers to drag it out, hoping the discussion would spill over into Sunday. That would give him time to judge the mood of the nation and to push on the supreme authority to render the apex court’s judgment null and void. That was going to be his second trump card.
But the vote took place just before midnight. During the voting, the Treasury benches were empty. The PTI MNAs had fled from the scene. According to one media account, if things were not going to go his way, he would create a stand-off, forcing the army to impose martial law and denying the opposition a chance to form a government.
In his last speech, he had used the first trump card. It was a flat-out attack on the United States, who he accused of fomenting regime change in Pakistan. He said that American had bought the corrupt politicians who were guilty not only of financial crimes but also of high treason. They had betrayed the country and were acting like Mir Jaafer who had betrayed Nawab Siraj ud-Daula of Bengal and joined the East India Company (British) forces under Lord Clive.
As Prime Minister, Imran Khan provided no evidence to substantiate his claim against the US. He said it was in the national interest not to share a cable which he had received from the Pakistani ambassador to the US which contained the details of what the US Assistant Secretary of State had apparently conveyed to him.
Imran was asked repeatedly to share the cable but would only say that he had shared it with the cabinet, members of the National Security Council including the military chiefs, and selected journalists. To this day, the cable continues to be withheld from the public.
It may or may not exist. Or it may exist but may not contain a threat to implement regime change. But the damage had been done. He had fired up his loyalists, knowing that they believe every word he utters. Their attachment to him is common among populists and demagogues around the world, most notably in the US, which is one of the world’s most educated countries.
As Prime Minister, Imran Khan provided no evidence to substantiate his claim against the US. He said it was in the national interest not to share a cable which he had received from the Pakistani ambassador to the US which contained the details of what the US Assistant Secretary of State had apparently conveyed to him.
The former president of the United States would dream up conspiracies left and right and his followers would accept his word as Gospel. Even when he clearly lost the election, and every court upheld it, his followers still believed that he had won the election. When Congress was going to ratify the election, he egged on his followers to launch a vicious armed attack on Capitol Hill in broad daylight on January 6, 2021.
In many ways, Imran Khan is playing not just any trump card. He is playing the Trump Card. All his statements and all his actions are coming out word-for-word from the American demagogue’s playbook. Soon after his election, the American comedian, Trevor Noah, had noted the striking similarities between the two neophyte egotists who were masquerading in politics.
Imran Khan was invited to the White House in 2019 and bonded almost instantly with Trump, who praised him to the hilt after recognizing him not only as a political leader but also as an athlete. He had used that visit to also bond with the Pakistani-American community.
What lies ahead for Pakistan? Imran’s actions and statements provide some clues. He called on his supporters to take to the streets on Sunday evening after the ‘Isha prayers. They complied not just in the cities of Pakistan but also in some overseas cities. They came out in large numbers and shouted anti-American and anti-opposition slogans. They were simply repeating what their leader had been saying all along. Their obedience to him is unquestioning, akin to that of devotees to a spiritual leader.
When they listen to him, they turn off their intellectual facilities. Not once have any of them realized that their whole case against the vote of no confidence is resting on an alleged conspiracy. They have not seen the cable.
For them, it is sufficient that their leader has seen it. Such fealty can have deadly consequences. Adolph Hitler used to it great effect to become the Fuhrer in the 1930’s.
Will Imran Khan be elected for a second term in office? It's very hard to say. In politics, anything is possible.
Assuming he pulls off a surprise, come-from-behind victory, in other words, actualizes the “fight-like-a-cornered tiger” threat, what would happen next?
He’s unlikely to be any wiser in governance in his second term than in his first term. Once again, in order to win votes, he would have made promises, perhaps grander than in the first term. They would be impossible to fulfil.
It’s much easier to fill the streets with supporters than to govern, as we saw in his first term.
If he loses the elections, will he accept the results? That’s quite unlikely. If chaos sets in, the inevitable will happen. That would be his third trump card.
Despite his professed loyalties to the country, Imran Khan does not care what happens to the country or to democracy. This tiger is only fighting for himself.