In August 2018 when PTI came into power, people of Pakistan believed that their nation is going to reborn as ‘Naya Pakistan’ and skipper Imran Khan will steer his innings of politics to victory as he had done before in cricket. Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (Movement of Justice) secured 156 seats out of 342 and formed a coalition government with MQM, BAP and others by reaching magical figure of 177 in National Assembly. Skipper had everything to have successful spell as Prime Minister of Pakistan. He was fresh face of clean politics with no political liabilities as he didn't have political background. Most importantly he had support of Army. But things turned to worse with every passing year for Imran Khan and a Captain could not break the record of every former Pak PM i.e. Out before completion of his 5-year tenure.
There were numerous indicators pointing towards failure of PTI government. Since the beginning, PTI portrayed themselves as champions of clean governance. To deliver it they started jailing corrupt officials without implementing institutional measures to control corruption. ‘Report corruption’ a mobile app by government was one such immature move, Creation of Tiger Force during COVID 19 pandemic can be another- list which is long & hysterical.
Pak army supported (or selected?) Imran Khan since the beginning. It’s quite a rare feat in Pak politics. However, PTI managed to blew this relationship too which ultimately erupted in public during selection of DG ISI. It’s a universal truth that sustenance of a Pak government depends on its balance with army but PTI tiptoed it as well, Imran’s Russia visit during Russian - Ukraine war did not go well with GHQ in Rawalpindi.
The role of opposition is critical in running a country, hence development of a constructive working relationship with opposition is required for holistic growth & governance. However, PTI continued to behave as if it was in opposition by focusing on the acts of previous governments and leaders rather than building their own narrative and a good governance model.
One thing which everyone was assured of Imran Khan that Captain would choose his team well. But the frequent reshuffling of cabinet told another story. Even the important portfolios such as information, finance and energy saw frequent changes of their heads. Immature and childish statements by its ministers which even contradicted PTI’s narrative, further deteriorated Imran’s image.
Punjab has been the center of Pak politics and a curious case of Usman Buzdar as its chief minister is a lesson in itself for the political leaders of Pakistan, it shows how Imran Khan kicked a self-goal by protecting Buzdar as CM of Punjab. Continuation of Buzdar as CM led to the initial discord with army which widened further. The poor governance in Punjab damaged perception of PTI & most importantly it resulted into dissatisfaction among its own cadre, ultimately putting entire PTI government in danger. At last Usman was removed to save the government but it only proved that Imran Khan was wrong in the first place.
As PTI government is ‘All Out’ before the ‘Stumps’, the question still remains. How could Imran Khan was not able to complete his innings even with such a good opening partnership? Well, it was bound to happen as he started questioning the ‘Umpire’ between his innings when it is well known that there is no Decision Review System (DRS) option available in Pakistan.
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