Imran Khan set fire to Pakistan’s constitution – we will resist his coup
Pakistan needs a system where an undemocratic government cannot ascend to office, and for that we need reforms
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Your support makes all the difference.On Sunday, 3 April, the people of Pakistan finally succeeded in getting rid of the government of Imran Khan imposed through a rigged election. It was a day of triumph for us, for the forces of democracy, for the people of Pakistan.
However, it was also a day of sadness. Recognizing his certain defeat in parliament, Imran Khan’s final desperate act was yet another coup. The Constitution was abrogated. Democracy was subverted. The people of Pakistan betrayed. The only difference this time around was that the architect of this subversion was a civilian, Imran Khan.
I am writing this on 4 April as the Supreme Court of Pakistan is deciding on the legality of the Khan and his coteries’ actions. On 4 April 1979, my grandfather Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was executed following General Zia-ul-Haq’s military coup and the subsequent judicial murder of the prime minister, who is the creator of Pakistan’s federal, democratic Constitution. We are no strangers to tyrants and their assaults and the subsequent vindication of history.
Pakistan needs a system where an unrepresentative and undemocratic government cannot ascend to office and for that we need electoral reforms to ensure free and fair elections. He wants to salvage the unconstitutional mechanism that sustains authoritarians like him: he will be defeated in that attempt as well.
Imran Khan lost the majority of the national assembly, as evidenced by 197 members (out of a total of 342) accompanying me on the opposition benches on Sunday, and faced a no-confidence motion – the only constitutional manner of removing the Prime Minister in Pakistan.
Instead of facing the vote, a deputy speaker from Khan’s party accused the entire opposition of working on a “foreign agenda” and rejected the motion. Khan advised the dissolution of the national assembly shortly after. Both the actions of the deputy speaker and Khan were in direct violation of the Constitution of Pakistan. The egregiousness of this assault on democracy and constitutionalism is exacerbated by the fact that Khan decided to do this in the parliament.
In the lead up to his coup, Khan and his supporters threatened, intimidated and bullied the opposition, and when all these attempts failed to deter the opposition from voting him out; he did what dictators do as last resort; he set fire. He attempted to set fire to Pakistan’s constitution and democracy. In the face of a certain and thumping defeat in the vote of no-confidence he attempted to do away with the whole parliament.
I have demanded a vote of no-confidence against Imran Khan for two years. He has since presided over a regime of incompetence, arrogance and authoritarianism.
Inflation, poverty, corruption in Pakistan are at their highest points in our country’s history. Political opponents have been arrested and hounded. Media censored and silenced. Human rights violated with impunity. The architecture of democracy is being dismantled and state institutions attacked.
The vote received by the members who accompanied me on the opposition benches on Sunday represented 70 per cent of the total votes of the Pakistani population. Khan resorted yet again to the crudest, most dangerous tactic of a demagogue: allegations of treason. He is accusing 70 per cent of the Pakistani voting population to be complicit in a “treasonous” plan. He has not only made a cowardly retreat from a democratic vote but seemingly displayed his intent to rig the next election.
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One of the reasons why Khan has to be removed by this parliament before Pakistan heads to a general election is to undertake electoral reforms and to set in place a system which allows for a free and fair election.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan has an opportunity to not let history repeat itself and to allow the constitution and the will of the people to prevail. If this brazen assault on the Constitution and democracy of Pakistan is not condemned, resisted, and reversed, it risks reverting Pakistan back to the dark rule of dictatorships.
We, the people of Pakistan will not let this happen. Khan will not only be defeated but also consigned to the dustbin of history along with tinpot dictators of the past.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is chair of the Pakistan People’s Party
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