Pakistan’s Khan to trumpet Islamic credentials as home fires burn

As the OIC praises Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for getting the UN last week to formally recognise Islamophobia as a global threat, the cricket star-turned politician faces a no-confidence vote in the national assembly

Islamabad (AFP) – Foreign ministers of Muslim nations gather in Pakistan Tuesday as the country’s leader trumpets his achievement of getting Islamophobia recognised at the United Nations while at the same time battling the most serious challenge to his rule in four years.

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The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is meeting in Islamabad with an ambitious agenda that seeks approval for over 100 declarations, including aid for financially strapped Afghanistan and support for the Palestinians and Kashmir.

But as officials praise Prime Minister Imran Khan for getting the UN last week to formally recognise Islamophobia as a global threat, the cricket star-turned-politician faces a no-confidence vote in the National Assembly.

In a hectic week on the political front, the country on Wednesday also celebrates Pakistan Day, with a military parade and flypasts.

The theme for the OIC gathering is “Partnering for Unity, Justice and Development”, and Khan will deliver the keynote speech that is sure to reference last week’s UN resolution — a personal bugbear since he became premier in August 2018.

Khan won office through an electorate weary of the two-party dynasties that have dominated Pakistan politics since independence — periods of power punctuated by military coups — but he seems to have lost that support, and perhaps the army too.

“I think the army leadership must be extremely concerned seeing what is happening on the political scene at the moment,” said Talat Masood, a retired general-turned-political analyst.

Khan has called for a million of his supporters to rally in the capital next week to put pressure on dozens of National Assembly members who are reported to be considering voting against him.

The leaders of the two main opposition parties have also called for their supporters to gather, prompting authorities to declare most of this week a public holiday in the hope of avoiding conflict — particularly during the OIC meeting.

‘Poorly managed’

“It is dragging the country to chaos,” Masood said.

“It seems that the government and opposition parties are on a collision course. They don’t seem to solve the problems politically, and rather try to show their street power.”

The no-confidence motion is scheduled to be formally introduced on Friday with a vote next week, but horse-trading is common in Pakistan politics and the rebels could well return to the fold before then.

“He has managed his own and allied political parties poorly,” political analyst Hasan Askari Rizvi said of Khan.

“It was his failure to keep the party and allies together that has brought him to this.”

Although Pakistan escaped the worst of the Covid-19 epidemic, the economy is in the doldrums with soaring inflation, a feeble rupee, and crippling debt.

The return of the Taliban to power in neighbouring Afghanistan has also provoked a resurgence of militancy in Pakistan — including the bombing of a Shiite mosque in Peshawar last month claimed by the local chapter of Islamic State that killed more than 60 people.

With flaring domestic issues, Khan has tried to position himself on the international stage, but his insistence on continuing with a visit to Moscow last month as Russian troops invaded Ukraine perplexed even his most ardent admirers.

He was also one of the few world leaders to attend the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics when others boycotted in protest at China’s human rights record.

There are several scenarios at play for Pakistan this week.

Khan’s PTI party is pursuing a court case against rebellious members that could force them to follow the whip.

Another tactic is for parties to, quite literally, hold lawmakers hostage and prevent them from voting or having a quorum.

And even if Khan does lose the vote, there will likely be a series of challenges both inside and outside the assembly.

Most of that will be lost on today’s OIC gathering, which is largely a talking shop that will pass a series of political resolutions.

Key among them is channelling aid to Afghanistan, although any formal recognition of the country’s new Taliban government remains unlikely.

© 2022 AFP