Signs of a government on its way out

We have seen all the signs before. Whenever the establishment gets sick of a sitting government, it becomes very aggressive. With Nawaz Sharif's last government, the judiciary became very active and removed him. Of course, the stupid man's name appeared in the Panama list, which contained details of properties owned by him. He should have resigned immediately, but like most Pakistanis, he resisted until the end. If only he had bowed out, he wouldn't be sitting in jail today.

With the present Imran Khan's weak government, the establishment seems to have concluded that he's not what they thought he was. For one thing, the man has no control over his tongue, so he can't help saying what shouldn't be said in public. Last week, he openly said that the army had trained terrorists, which must have caused many generals to lose their tempers. So it was inevitable that he should be told that he's not a popular leader, knowing that he came to power through rigged elections.

The first sign was the Chief Justice saying that the process of accountability is one-sided. At the moment, only the corrupt elements in the parties opposed to Imran Khan are being tried, even though among his own allies there are corrupt elements (perhaps including himself).

Next was the Election Commissioner's refusal to accept two nominees of the government, on the grounds that it was against the Constitution. Imran wanted his own men in the body, to ensure that future elections could also be heavily rigged in his favor. If the establishment had wanted, the two would have been accepted without a murmur.

Another shocker was the disqualification of the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly. The Election Commission announced that sixty five thousand votes had been discarded. Apparently this has happened in most of the constituencies won by Imran's party. If he defies the establishment, all votes will be re-counted and the true picture will emerge.

Finally, there is the long-standing corruption case about foreign funds being used by Imran to contest elections. Until now, the Election Commission had steadfastly refused to proceed with this case, since it would have meant the disqualification of Imran and all his minions. But now, hearings will be held, meaning that Imran will have to be very careful whenever he opens his mouth. 

One thing is sure. Knowing him, sooner or later there will be more friction between Imran and the establishment, and he will soon be shunted out.