I'm struck by how much Imran Khan's followers all agree that Pakistan in on the brink of disaster, now that their cult's leader is no longer in power. The other day I got a call from a college friend who has been a US citizen for fifty years. He told me that all his Pakistani friends are convinced that Pakistan could collapse any day now, as people are on the streets rioting and indulging in arson. I told him Imran Khan is so desperate to regain power at all costs that he and his followers are spreading such rumors. I also told him that even though overseas Pakistanis may think very highly of Imran Khan, in Pakistan he enjoys the support of only 29 percent of the people, according to many surveys done in the recent past.
No one should take Shaikh Rasheed seriously, seeing how inaccurate his predictions have been. He kept telling us that the PML-N would break up, that there would never be a no-confidence motion, and that Imran Khan would complete his five years tenure. He's at it again, saying (among other things) that no country is willing to give Pakistan a dollar.
Yesterday, at the club, I was talking to one such person who still thinks Imran Khan is a paragon of virtue. As I expected, he didn't know anything about the 20 million rupee watch and the 15 million rupee 5-carat diamond ring. He too is convinced that Pakistan is about to default. I told him he shouldn't worry, as he has made enough in real estate dealings to last him a lifetime.
Shaukat Tareen (Imran Khan's fifth finance minister) is in the news because he said Imran's government took loans amounting to only 76 percent of all loans taken since 1947 (he said this in reaction to Miftah Ismail saying the figure is 80%). I wonder why Imran Khan didn't realize that Shaukat Tareen is a duffer. Or maybe he knew all along and appointed him because he likes to have morons around him, those who would never ever think of voting against him. But he's due for a shock. There are signs that some of his followers are going to desert him and return to the assembly, from which they had been forced to resign.
Post a Comment