Is the Pakistani Prime Minister being overthrown because of his stance on Russia?

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Imran Khan has been accused of allegedly betraying Pakistan by undermining its ties with the USA

On April 9, Imran Khan was removed from the post of Pakistani Prime Minister. For the first time in the country’s history, the prime minister was removed as a result of a vote in the parliament.

Imran Khan tried to outplay the opposition and attempted to dissolve the parliament. On April 3, the deputy speaker of parliament canceled a no-confidence vote, accusing the opposition of taking part in a foreign plot to overthrow the head of state. After that, with the consent of the president, Imran Khan dissolved the government and the National Assembly and gave three months to prepare for new elections. For this term, he was going to remain prime minister ad interim.

However, the Supreme Court overturned these decisions, calling them unconstitutional, and instructed to reconsider the issue of a vote of no confidence on April 9. The meeting of the parliament on April 9 lasted 12 hours. Overall, out of a 342-seat assembly, 174 of 342 members voted against Khan, exceeding the required number of 172 votes. Khan, 69-year-old, became Pakistan’s first prime minister to be removed from office.

The country’s Supreme Court was also asked to investigate Imran Khan’s damage to Pakistan’s image by undermining ties with the US. The court was asked to investigate the case under the Treason Act. Khan and several ministers were proposed to be banned from leaving the country.

The hearing will be held on April 11. Also on this day, a vote will be held to elect Khan’s successor.

Reasons and consequences

At one time, Imran Khan advanced to the leadership of the country with the support of the Pakistani army. Recently, however, their union has begun to fall apart. The signal to the opposition was a public conflict between Prime Minister Imran Khan and army commander General Qamar Bajwa, which occurred in November in connection with the appointment of the head of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). In this conflict, Bajwa prevailed, and Khan was forced to remove his ally from the post of head of intelligence.

According to experts, the three pillars of Pakistani politics are “Allah, the army and America.” Imran Khan had a falling out with the two. Allah remained.

The internal politics of Pakistan is very much influenced by the relations of government officials with other countries (the United States, Great Britain, China, Saudi Arabia, India, Russia), but especially with the United States. Imran Khan spoiled relations with Washington, including by refusing to participate in the summit for democracy, which was held on December 9-10, 2021 under the auspices of Joe Biden. The reason for Khan’s refusal was his reluctance to spoil relations with China.

Khan still uses an anti-American card, which is in demand among ordinary Pakistanis. And he promises to keep fighting. “I will continue to fight for Pakistan until the last ball,” the former athlete wrote.

His opponent Bajwa, on the contrary, decided to turn a little to the West and lean a little on the United States. On April 1, former US Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad visited the head of the Pakistani army to discuss the “development of Pakistani-American relations.” At this meeting, the parties could discuss the question of US support in the context of Bajwa’s conflict with Khan.

Speaking at a meeting of the Islamabad Security Dialogue, General Bajwa said about the importance of strategic relations with the United States and expressed bewilderment that the government does not condemn Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

On April 3, Khan said that Washington was behind the proposal to pass a vote of no confidence against him. According to the prime minister, the United States was angry with his recent visit to Russia on February 24-25.

The conflict with the United States was exacerbated by Imran Khan’s positive relations with Moscow. For Khan, this relationship is promising because Moscow can help with energy resources, with which Pakistan has very big problems, especially in the face of a sharp rise in prices.

One of the main economic questions of the Pakistani delegation’s visit to the Russian Federation was the construction of two gas pipelines. One of them is internal, connecting populated areas of the north of the country with LNG terminals in the south. The second was a gas pipeline from Kazakhstan to India, the operator of which is Gazprom. This highway, which should pass through the territory of Pakistan, is considered in the country as a serious help in solving energy problems, since the construction of a similar gas pipeline from Turkmenistan (TAPI) has recently encountered difficulties.

This project would also give Moscow the opportunity to diversify gas supplies given the current EU position towards Russian gas. And although this project cannot be implemented quickly, the West does not like it at all.

Imran Khan’s stance toward Russia, his meeting with Vladimir Putin and his refusal to condemn the Russian special operation and join the sanctions all played a role in his overthrow.

The new prime minister from the united opposition is expected to be 70-year-old Shehbaz Sharif, the former head of Pakistan’s largest province of Punjab and the younger brother of three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Sharif has made a name for himself by promoting infrastructure projects as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor in Punjab.

The Sharif family is close to the monarchies of the Persian Gulf. The coming of one of the Sharifs to power means that Pakistan will get closer to the Arab countries and to the Western axis. Now the Gulf countries are not in opposition to Russia, but also do not support it, they are only waiting for the result. They will see who will be stronger and draw their own conclusions.

China does not express serious support for Imran Khan, realizing that relations between Islamabad and Beijing should not suffer from the change of power, because Pakistan needs investments, and Russia now does not have the most favorable conditions for the comprehensive support of Khan. The conditions under which Prime Minister Imran Khan was removed suggest that the next head of government may be a politician with an anti-Russian position. But has Khan completely left the political arena, or are we still in for some surprises?

Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency

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