The decision will now be challenged in the high court of Islamabad and there is every likelihood that this decision of the ECP will be over turned by the court. The disqualification ruling by the ECP has placed Pakistan at a serious risk of breakdown of law and order chaos and the possibility of a civil war in the country.
Protests and demonstrations erupted all over the country and the severely polarized Pakistani society is now in danger of serious damage. Imran Khan of today enjoys a cult following. He has very adroitly played to the galleries, used the religion card and won the support of the youth of Pakistan.
If elections are announced now he has all the chances of winning by a thumping majority. Today he is the Pied Piper of Pakistan leading the country to peace and prosperity or to their doom this has yet to be decided. The PTI like many other political parties in the country is a one man show that enjoys the backing and support of some extremist religious organizations.
Without him the PTI will fall like a house of cards and if elections are postponed for any reason Pakistan will certainly face some dangerous and tricky uncertainty perhaps the most serious in its murky political history.
The story of Imran Khan from political wilderness to Prime Minister is not something to brag about. His tenure of almost four years was a bitter disappointment that was nothing but a sorry spectacle of incompetence, bad governance, and foreign policy failures. His carefully crafted image of a knight in shining armor or the savior of the country was sullied and much of the intelligentsia in the country voiced their disapproval loud and clear.
Ironically the younger lot of the country still look up to him as an ideal and future hope of the country.
A large majority of the country see the Imran opponents as crooks and thieves and compared to other political leaders like Zardari, Nawaz Sharif, Bilawal and others Imran Khan is still an angel.
They believe that in the next elections the PTI will win an absolute majority and their hero Imran Khan will turn this country into a land of milk and honey or his promised Utopian dream of Riasat-i-Madina. Pro PTI lawyers and journalists have reacted to the verdict angrily and described it as “silly, ridiculous verdict against Imran Khan.”
As per them, the ECP could have turned the matter over to the FBR and washed their hands off a controversial issue. They have issued a verdict like the one in the case of Nawaz Sharif to disqualify him over an iqama and the undeclared salary from a company owned by his son. The PTI supporters are now very hopeful of seeing their Kaptaan at the batting crease once again for a second innings as the Prime Minister of the country. Is it possible for him to learn from his mistakes and give a better performance in the second stint as PM?
Imran Khan in the second innings will again face the powerful military and civil establishment and may not be able keep them within their constitutional limits. His penchant for religious extremist parties and his support for the militants could again spell disaster for the country as we could once again face the horrible specter of an extremist group dictating their terms.
The biggest challenge to be faced by the new govt. will be the economy of the country and the new regime will have to face the draconian policy of the IMF and in the foreign policy area he will have to regain the strategic confidence of our all-weather friend China and revive CEPEC.
He will have to mend fences with India improve our relations with the USA and manage the delicate balancing act with Russia without antagonising the western democracies. The climatic calamity will have to be tackled very seriously and business confidence restored to attract foreign investments.
The country and the nation is now in state of serious political and economic crisis. Ironically Imran Khan and others are now engaged in pouring fuel over the raging fires of chaos and disaster. Our national leaders have to realise that they have to find a way out of the present predicament. The present political crisis must be defused or this country will be a sorry spectacle of ruins and ashes and there will be nothing left for them to rule over.