Contradictions of a narrative

Former Prime Minister Imran Khan has built a new political narrative to win over the support of the people in the next elections. This new political narrative has three main components.

First, he is the victim of an American conspiracy which ousted him from power. The Biden Administration conspired against him because he was pursuing an independent foreign policy and refused to take dictates from foreign powers. He has been ousted from power because he was protecting the interests of Pakistan. The conspiracy was hatched at a time when Pakistan’s economy was ready to take off and the government was in a position to provide big relief to the people. So, the conspiracy was against the sovereignty, prosperity and dignity of a great nation.

The second component of his political narrative is that the PML-N, PPP and JUI-F collaborated with foreign powers to oust him from power. The vote of no-confidence was not an indigenous political move but part of an international conspiracy. He has alleged that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and former president Asif Zardari were part of that conspiracy.

The third component of his toxic political narrative is that the newly formed grand coalition government led by PM Shahbaz Sharif is an imported government installed with the help of international powers. This government has compromised the sovereignty, freedom and independence of Pakistan. He is also raising the questions on the legitimacy of this government.

There are contradictions in this political narrative. The first contradiction is that it is not backed by solid evidence. The National Security Committee (NSC) in its two meetings has clearly pointed out that Pakistan’s premier intelligence agencies found no evidence of such conspiracy of regime change.

Nobody can deny the fact that a diplomatic cable does exist. And Pakistan diplomatically protested with the US over the use of undiplomatic language. There is no doubt in my mind that the Biden Administration was not keen or interested to engage with PM Imran Khan’s government. There is also no doubt that the Biden Administration was not happy with Pakistan’s neutral position on the Russia-Ukraine war. Imran Khan failed to establish the kind of cordial relations with the Biden Administration that he used to enjoy during the Trump presidency, despite making desperate attempts. These are known facts. But are these facts enough to prove a conspiracy of regime change?

I am also not trying to deny the historic fact that American imperialism has a long history of regime change policy. From prime mimister Dr Muhammad Musaddiq of Iran to president Salvador Allende of Chile, from president Sukarno of Indonesia to prime minister ZA Bhutto of Pakistan, many left-wing socialist and nationalist leaders in Africa, Asia and Latin America were not only removed from power but also physically eliminated one way or the other.

All these leaders were staunch anti-imperialists and tried to defy American hegemony. They all adopted radical economic policies and tried to defend the national economic and political interests of their people. Their policies posed a direct challenge to American imperialism and other big powers. And so American imperialism collaborated with local establishments to overthrow those popular leaders.

Can Imran Khan mention any concrete step he took or policy he adopted to challenge the imperialist interests? What has he even done to back his claims of regime change apart from a diplomatic cable and Russian visit?

The problem really starts when Imran Khan links these known facts to draw the conclusion that he was ousted from power through an international conspiracy. Imran came up with this conspiracy theory of regime change to deny the fact that he was ousted due to internal contradictions. He is not ready to accept the fact that the PPP, PML-N and JUI-F outmaneuvered and outsmarted him in domestic politics. He lost power because he lost the majority in the National Assembly.

He also successfully diverts the debate from the poor performance and failures of his government. The people of Pakistan suffered for nearly 44 months due to the failures of his government to control the rising inflation. Now the whole country is suffering due to power loadshedding. The PTI government left behind a severe energy crisis in the country, and also failed to bring down the cost of living.

Pakistan’s economy is facing many serious challenges at the moment. The PTI government failed to address the major issues of the economy. Now Imran Khan is giving us lectures on national pride, honour and dignity but his government surrendered the economic sovereignty of the country before the IMF.

Through this narrative of regime change and international conspiracy, Imran Khan has been able to convince his supporters that he is too strong for the domestic political opponents so that is why Americans were forced to hatch the conspiracy to oust him. The former prime minister is also not ready to accept the fact that the circumstances have changed which brought him into power nearly 44 months ago. He is not ready to accept the new political reality. So he is reacting in an unusual way.

The interesting fact is that the new political narrative is missing the key components of the last political narrative the PTI used for the 2018 general elections. That narrative was based on corruption, accountability and change. Imran Khan hardly mentions these issues in his recent speeches. He hardly mentions the performance of his government in his hard-hitting speeches centered on international conspiracy.

The writer is a freelance journalist.