Pakistan Sliding Towards 'Civilian Dictatorship' Under Shehbaz Sharif: Report

(MENAFN- IANS) Dhaka, Oct 17 (IANS) Pakistan's Shehbaz Sharif government has become a "prisoner of Imran Khan phobia", a report has stated, while accusing the "captive government" of pushing the country towards a civilian dictatorship. The government is unwilling to risk releasing the jailed former Prime Minister and is not even prepared to transfer him to a hospital.

Had the Supreme Court's August 18 decision to transfer Imran Khan to Al-Shifa Hospital in Islamabad been implemented, there would have been neither Governor's Rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after suspending the provincial government led by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) nor a long march by the party, a report in leading Bangladeshi daily 'Porthom Alo' mentioned earlier this week.

“Whether anyone accepts it or not, the truth is that Pakistan's politics revolves around a man who has been imprisoned in Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail for the past three years. The name of this prisoner is Imran Khan. On 18 August, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered that Imran Khan be transferred to Al-Shifa Hospital in Islamabad within two days. Ignoring this order, Shehbaz Sharif's government gave Imran Khan a tour of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) and locked him back up in Adiala Jail,” the report mentioned.

“Sohail Afridi, Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, belongs to Imran Khan's party, Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Afridi announced a long march toward Islamabad for Imran Khan's release. To stop the march, the federal government began negotiations with PTI. But Afridi said that if Imran Khan tells them to stop the long march, they will stop. The federal government did not agree. Holding Afridi responsible for the failure of the talks, it decided to impose Governor's Rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” it detailed.

Although Pakistan has a history of imposing Governor's Rule in its provinces, the consequences have often been deeply painful. Sadly, the country appears to be repeating the same troubled past, the report said.

While Sohail Afridi's march sought Imran Khan's release, Shehbaz Sharif has embarked on a political march of his own, one that it said is steering Pakistan towards civilian dictatorship.

“The Shehbaz Sharif government's position is that whatever they are doing, they are doing within the Constitution. The Constitution also commands them to implement the Supreme Court's orders, but where the Constitution becomes an obstacle in their path, they ignore it. Where the Constitution serves the fulfillment of their political agenda, they become champions of the Constitution. Imran Khan used to do much the same,” the report noted.

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