Pakistan is witnessing its Indira Gandhi moment. This moment has been brought to the Islamic country exclusively by Imran Khan. Many are astounded by the rather unconstitutional game that Imran Khan has just played in Pakistan. On Sunday, the Pakistani PM used his influence over the National Assembly Speaker to suspend the vote on the no-confidence motion brought in by the opposition against his government. The Speaker dismissed the resolution citing Article 5 (loyalty to the state).
Basically, Imran Khan is alleging an international conspiracy is afoot to throw his government out of power. However, Pakistan’s opposition is now infuriated. The National Assembly has been dissolved, and elections are due to be held in 90 days. It is yet to be seen how the Pakistani Army and Supreme Court react to the developments, and whether they take actions that could spoil Imran Khan’s plan.
Leader of the Opposition in Pakistan’s National Assembly, Shehbaz Sharif said that Article 6 of the Constitution will be slapped on the PM and the Speaker of the National Assembly. Article 6 of the Constitution of Pakistan refers to “high treason”. Basically, Imran Khan, despite losing the majority, used the National Assembly Speaker to get the no-confidence resolution dismissed. That prima facie amounts to him being in contravention of Article 6.
Imran’s Indira Moment
Former Indian PM Indira Gandhi and Imran Khan have a lot in common. In fact, while Imran Khan has dissolved the parliament to not face the embarrassment of being thrown out of power, Indira Gandhi imposed a nationwide emergency to hold on to power.
A lasting legacy of the Indira regime is the imposition of an Emergency from 1975 to 1977. The order bestowed upon the Prime Minister the authority to rule by decree, allowing elections to be cancelled and civil liberties to be suspended. For much of the Emergency, most of Indira Gandhi’s political opponents were imprisoned and the press was censored. Several other human rights violations were reported from the time, including a mass forced sterilization campaign spearheaded by Sanjay Gandhi.
Indira Gandhi faced a predicament like Imran Khan as well. You see, on June 12, 1975, the Allahabad High Court passed a judgment holding that then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was guilty of electoral malpractices and disqualified her from holding public office for six years. Indira challenged the order in the Supreme Court but did not get complete relief. A day after the Supreme Court refused to become a pawn in the hands of Indira Gandhi, she imposed a brutal nationwide emergency.
Pakistan’s Future Prime Minister an Indira Prototype
Imran Khan will, for the foreseeable future, continue as Pakistan’s Prime Minister. That would be until national elections are held. However, the Army might just intervene, and the Supreme Court might overrule the National Assembly Speaker, in which case Imran Khan’s career could be over much before the 90-day term until elections are completed.
Read more: Indira Gandhi could have won back Pakistan occupied Kashmir in 1971, but she had other ideas
There is a high likelihood that Imran Khan, for whatever number of days he continues as Prime Minister, will be mimicking Indira Gandhi. She too grabbed power without the confidence of parliament and the people. Her continuance as Prime Minister was illegal and unconstitutional, pretty much like Imran Khan’s latch-on to power.
Pakistanis are about to witness perhaps the darkest time of their lives. There is a possibility of a coup; a prolonged constitutional crisis; and Imran Khan going berserk as a despotic leader. 47 years on, the ghost of Indira Gandhi lives on, in Pakistan.