What does Imran Khan want?

WHAT are Imran Khan’s demands? Demand number 1: Immediate elections. Demand number 2: Imran Khan should appoint the next Chief of Army Staff (COAS). Demand number 3: All the cases against Imran Khan should be withdrawn.

What are the two tools available to Imran Khan? Street protests, a long march or dissolving either the provincial assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or the Punjab Assembly or both.

Imran Khan’s strategy to achieve his demands revolves around three things: creating instability; creating fissures within the armed forces and creating a rift between common Pakistanis and the armed forces. Imran Khan’s favourite platform to promote his agenda is social media. Let us take up the PTI’s claim that “immediate elections” will mean “political stability”.

Will it? What if the PTI loses the elections? Will it mean “political stability?” Will the PTI accept election results? Will the PTI accept elections results under the current Chief Election Commissioner? What about the 33 million Pakistanis who have lost their houses and all their belongings? What about the part of Pakistan that has been flooded?

What if the PTI wins the elections? Over the 2018 to 2022 period, the PTI had six Inspector Generals of Police in Punjab, eight FBR chairmen, four finance ministers and four Board of Investment chairmen. Will it mean the repetition of 2018 to 2022 economic failure, governance failure and foreign policy failure?

Question: Which entity under the Constitution of Pakistan announces, organises and conducts elections? Answer: Under Article 219, the Election Commission of Pakistan has the duty of “holding of general elections to the National Assembly, Provincial Assemblies and the local governments.”

Can Imran Khan appoint the next Chief of Army Staff? Under Chapter 2 of the Constitution of Pakistan, Article 243 states: “The President shall, on advice of the Prime Minister, appoint the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee; the Chief of the Army Staff; the Chief of the Naval Staff; and the Chief of the Air Staff.” What about a caretaker COAS? Is there a provision for a caretaker COAS in the Constitution?

Next question: can the Establishment or any other force withdraw all the nineteen cases currently going on against the former prime minister at various judicial forums? Can Imran Khan force his demands on the Establishment, the Election Commission of Pakistan, the judiciary and the coalition government?

To be certain, there’s a difference between a desire and a demand. A demand is an “insistent and peremptory request, made as of right”, while a desire simply “refers to mere wish of a person”. A person can desire anything at any point in time. Yes, there are no limitations for a desire. But, there are several limitations affecting demands.