A letter that has been written by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI’s) Quaid Imran Khan to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has caused a considerable controversy owing to all the right or wrong reasons. Assailing Imran Khan, his detractors argue that the Fund cannot do what Imran Khan has requested it to do, given the Articles of Agreement does not have or contain any such provision or clause in it. They may be right. But the question is how they would respond to the reaction of the members of US Congress to the pre-and post-poll developments in Pakistan.

The American legislators have asked the Biden administration to “withhold recognition of a new government until an investigation determines the election was not rigged.” Imran Khan appears to have written his letter to the IMF on the same lines with an almost identical demand. According to media reports, a letter spearheaded by US Congressman Greg Casar and signed by 30 other members of Congress has expressed its concern about “pre- and post-poll rigging” in the general elections. Needless to say, the election results do not represent the will of the people.

In other words, they are shorn of any legitimacy or sanctity. The fact that the nation has a political cul-de-sac before it cannot be overemphasized. This election seems to have added to the woes of this beleaguered nation on an unprecedented scale. The seemingly upcoming PDM 2.0 government is not a solution at all. Repression against PTI hasn’t worked now or before; it wouldn’t work in future as well. The start of the maiden session of National Assembly yesterday was an insipid affair, to say the least.

Farhat Bashir Dhillon

Lahore

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024