Khan’s wild swings at foreign conspiracies fail to connect as end of innings looms
TRADE may have fallen off a cliff in the market where Gul Zaman Khan sells embroidered shawls, but the businessman has no intention of turning on his idol Imran Khan.
The 30-year-old was one of the zealous young supporters who helped elect the former cricketer as Pakistan’s prime minister and he will keep faith with him. The shopkeeper attended rallies called by the national sporting hero as he climbed to power and refused to abandon him as he faced what appeared to be his toughest contest yet.
He said the political crisis afflicting the world-cup winning captain was not a result of his mismanagement and arrogance, as his opponents allege.
Instead it is the result of foreign conspiracies and vested interests trying to drag down an honest man, he says.
“He’s a great man and a true leader. The foreign powers and the corrupt political mafia are trying to push him out. But we still support him.”
Yet despite the devotion of people such as Mr Khan, the prime minister was fighting for his political survival and was tipped to lose today’s no-confidence vote in the national assembly.
Four years after his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Pakistan Justice Movment) party was elected, he is on the brink of being pitched back into opposition. Snowballing political defections cause him to haemorrhage parliamentary numbers. Political wheeling and dealing was expected to continue to the end, but the desertion of a minor coalition party last week was predicted by many to have seal his fate.
Khan has whipped up his supporters by alleging he was being ousted by an American-led conspiracy. He claimed the US was angered by Pakistan’s insistence that it be allowed to forge an independent foreign policy. Washington denies the allegations.
With the political temperature rising, Mr Khan suggested that he might be assassinated, and has said today’s ballot will be a defining moment in the country’s history. On Friday he said there was a threat to his life because those wanting to topple him were “scared, knowing that even if he is ousted, the public will continue to support him”.
“I am saying this openly that there is a threat to my life,” he said.
In the Satellite Town neighbourhood of Rawalpindi on Friday there here were plenty of signs that Mr Khan’s stratagem to blame me foreigners may take root. It voted for him and remains supportive. Mohammad Urfan, selling handbags, said: “You can’t doubt his honesty and his political passion. I believe that whenever we have a true leader, internal and external factors join forces to undermine him.” But there were also signs of the difficulties that have brought Mr Khan close to defeat. The 69-year-old took power promising a new Pakistan where he would evict the corrupt elite and build an Islamic welfare state. He has bolstered the social safety net and provided free healthcare h insurance for many but his tenure has also been marked by b surging inflation, and soaring food and utilities costs.
Some traders said they had seen business decline dec by 75 per cent or more m under Mr Khan’s premiership. The rupee is falling. Many business leaders blame economic mismanagement.
But Gul Zaman Khan, the shawl seller, says he will follow Mr Khan into opposition if necessary. He said: “Even if he goes, we believe God is with him.”