Imran Khan planned to hold a Referendum after Budget Session for replacing the Parliamentarian system with Presidential System

DND Thought CenterImran Khan planned to hold a Referendum after Budget Session for replacing...

By Agha Iqrar Haroon

After facing the historic defeat in National Assembly, now PTI members are sharing their hearts and are revealing that former Prime Minister Imran Khan planned to hold a Referendum in the country after the budget session of 2022 for replacing the Parliamentarian system with the Presidential System but voted out before executing the plan. “Man proposes God disposes”.

By refusing to contest the election of Leader of the House and by tendering resignations from National Assembly, PTI members confirmed again my viewpoint that they do not believe in Parliament and the Parliamentarian system and used it only for being in power.

PTI never used Parliament for legislation and always used Presidential Office to release “Presidential Ordinances”. Former Prime Minister Imran Khan always refrained from attending National Assembly session even as Leader of the House (prime minister). He believes that the Constitution of 1973 is trash and that Parliament is useless but both are important if both make him Prime Minister. I think it is high time for PTI to resign from KPK Assembly also.

Sources in PTI claim that the former Prime Minister planned to hold a referendum in the country after Budget Session 2022 for asking people do they want a Presidential Form or government or a Parliamentarian form of government? However, his departure came first before he could move to replace a parliamentarian system. Now his main point during the protest would be that Pakistan can only get prosperity under the Presidential form of government and the Parliamentarian system can be bought by foreign powers to execute their agendas.

It is a very unfortunate situation Pakistan had been facing for ages that every political, social, and economic situation that takes place in Pakistan is allegedly linked with western powers— precisely with the United States. More unfortunate is that a prime minister (now former) brought his National Security Advisor, Governor State Bank of Pakistan, and his chief spokesman from America and even then he claimed that America conspired against his rule and invested US dollars for regime change against him.

I had been writing for a long that Imran Khan’s party had been meddling in foreign affairs for gaining domestic political mileage. It was a very dangerous game and his cabinet members had been involved in accusing western and even Chinese (reference to corruption allegations leveled by former Minister Murad Saeed in CPEC projects done during the PMLN era) governments.

I know sharing the truth could be dangerous but I could not down my pen. Should I compromise with the sacred duty a writer has when his/her nation goes through the confusion and psychological anarchy?

The disgraceful exit of a so-called player is not the end of the unfortunate era of name-calling, abuse, and slurring he has infected our population with unhealthy personality traits and has shown that he was neither a team player nor a political leader. Inflation, poverty, and unemployment will the biggest challenge for the upcoming government. His (Imran Khan) efforts to prove that Parliament is not good enough and the Constitution is defunct will not stop and he will keep working to install a Presidential form of government. He behaved in a way that he was planted for the sole purpose of humiliating the Constitution to the extent that a common man gets the pulse that it’s time for a change of non-operational Constitution.

So far today Pakistan’s Constitution has managed to save itself but this honor killing of Pakistan’s Parliament and its Constitution will reemerge. I am afraid to claim that he might be a pawn of a very deep-rooted bigger plan against Pakistan. He has been pleasing India by stating that Indian foreign policy is much better than that of Pakistan and he has been saying that India is a sovereign country but not Pakistan. He was delivering such statements when he was Prime Minister and had been abusing Pakistani diplomats and appreciating Indian diplomatic cadre. He questioned several times that Pakistan was not a sovereign country but India was. I believe it is high time that the Foreign Funding Case against PTI that is waiting for the decision in the Election Commission of Pakistan should be decided and the record should be public so we can know who had been funding PTI in past?

I suggest the new government must tailor some rules to take practical steps for the cleansing of Pakistani society from the venom of hatred and name-calling injected by the PTI era.  I also suggest introducing punishment for those who for gaining domestic gains public sensitive documents related to foreign affairs of Pakistan. We have seen that no official Secret Act has been clamped against anyone although PTI has ruined Pakistan’s relations with the United States which is the biggest buyer of Pakistani products. Facing the situation of Economic epilepsy, we must not be suicidal and must not inflict our economic interests. Former Prime Minister Imran Khan cited circumstances former Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto faced and then he was killed because he wanted a sovereign Pakistan. Khan said that he is impressed with the braveness of Bhutto. If he is really impressed by Bhutto’s vision, then he must read his book “Myth of Independence”. Published on April 1, 1969, this book is still considered a bible for students of Foreign Affairs. Imran Khan should at least read the first chapter of the book “The Struggle for Equality” before ruining foreign relations of Pakistan with any country in the future. Chapter two of the book “Global Powers and Small Nations” can give ideas to readers on how to deal with superpowers without inflicting your interests?

For my readers, I am giving a direct link to “The Myth of Independence” so anybody who says he wants to follow Bhutto’s vision of International Relations must read this book. Bhutto was extremely against using loaded diction for foreign countries and he was against using abuse of foreign partners unless you have credible documents to justify your allegations. When he came to Raja Bazaar to challenge the United States, he had a real Letter not a Demarche in his hand— a letter directly written to him by US authorities.

By the way, Bhutto was an architect of Seno-Pak relations while your Dharna practically stopped Chinese President Xi to visit Pakistan, and the CPEC project was halted due to allegations leveled by your Cabinet members. I request former Prime Minister Khan please do not compare yourself with a man who died four decades ago but would not die for many decades to come.

Disclaimer:

The views and opinions expressed in this article/Opinion/Comment are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the DND Thought Center and Dispatch News Desk (DND). Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of the DND Thought Center and Dispatch News Desk News Agency.

Must read

Advertisement