Pakistan’s general elections results have yet to be finalised but a few distinct and significant themes are evident. One message resounds: Pakistanis, especially the younger population, oppose the coercive methods of the state apparatus and refuse to adhere to the predetermined narrative of the military leadership dictating the country’s trajectory.
The defeat of the establishment-backed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz at the hands of relatively obscure and youthful candidates of former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf lays a promising foundation for a more democratic path forward.
A coalition between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples Party is in the offing, consolidating power in Islamabad and three provinces: Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has a clear victory in the fourth province, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The coalition government being formed with the support of the country’s powerful “militablishment” – the army’s high command and intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence – may lack public support and moral legitimacy. This will mean it is unlikely to survive for long.
Overcoming vendetta
Multiple court cases against Khan and his family reek of political vendetta and efforts to preserve the military’s dominance in the political realm.
In sharp contrast to the last elections in 2018, when Khan was the establishment favourite, Pakistan’s television news channels sidelined coverage of…
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