‘Secret document’ or Imran’s last trump card

Known for fighting till the last ball in his cricketing days, Prime Minister Imran Khan has dropped a ‘bombshell’ by linking the vote of no-trust with an alleged international conspiracy against him. But, he took nearly two weeks to disclose it only after he feared defeat on the ‘vote of no-confidence’. The opposition now claims support of nearly 195 MNAs. Has the ‘secret document’ being used as the last card without realising the possible consequences?

Will Imran Khan survive the vote of no-confidence as the fact remains he is presently far behind in the number games? One thing is certain Imran’s new narrative in the forthcoming elections will be anti-West and anti-US.

The opposition parties have shown some maturity over the issue. They have advised the PM to convene not only the joint session of the parliament but also the meeting of National Security Council instead of politicising the issue. PM’s present and former allies asked why the PM revealed it after losing the confidence of his allies and emergence of dissidents.

The PTI allies seemingly have not taken the letter or document, whatever it was, as seriously as the Prime Minister did? Some of the former diplomats also questioned the way the premier is tackling the issue. The European Union and the United States have already distanced themselves from the controversy and in their own way denied their role.

I am sure Pakistan’s security establishment and the ‘umpires’ must have formed their own opinion about it.They advised him to calm down and handle it properly keeping in view the security and diplomatic norms. After their advice, the premier’s address to the nation was cancelled and he did not show the letter to a group of journalists.

Highly informed sources disclosed the way PM or Foreign Minister handled this situation did not go well in certain quarters, and it could further strain our relationship with some foreign countries.

It’s not clear whether Pakistan Foreign Office has advised the PM through Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to refrain from making it a public debate. Qureshi is presently on a 3-day visit to China and that he might have taken the Chinese leadership into confidence on the alleged threat.

The PM, perhaps, was advised to tackle both the issues of vote of no-confidence and the document separately, but it appears not only Prime Minister Imran Khan making it a public issue his party reportedly is planning to bring a large number of people to D-Chowk on Sunday, the possible day of ‘voting’ on vote of no-confidence.

Prime Minister Imran Khan is in a much weaker position now and the way he conceded Punjab top slot to PTI’s junior partner, PMLQ’s Ch Pervaiz Elahi, showed he has lost his grip on power. But in return, Pervaiz Elahi has failed in improving the position of PM by not bringing back two other allies i.e. MQM (Pakistan) and BAP.

In context of voting on the motion, it will be a daunting task for PTI and PM to survive it as the opposition has crossed the magic number of 172 .As far as the ‘secret document’ is concerned, the issue will not die down soon, and in the coming weeks and months we may witness some very serious developments.

The writer is a columnist and analyst of Geo, The News and Jang

Twitter:@MazharAbbasGEO