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AMY GOODMAN: In a tweet, Imran Khan described his removal as a form of, quote, “U.S.-backed regime change,” writing, quote, “Thank you to all Pakistanis for their amazing outpouring of support & emotions to protest against US-backed regime change abetted by local Mir Jafars to bring into power a coterie of pliable crooks all out on bail. Shows Pakistanis at home & abroad have emphatically rejected this,” Khan tweeted.
Khan’s ouster came after he dissolved Parliament earlier this month to stop a no-confidence vote demanded by the opposition, which then appealed to the Supreme Court. After four days of deliberation, the court ordered the Parliament to be reinstated, and the no-confidence was held Saturday in a marathon 13-hour session. This is Pakistan’s National Assembly speaker announcing the results of the vote.
AYAZ SADIQ: One seventy-four members have recorded their votes in favor of the resolution. Consequently, the resolution for vote of no confidence against Mr. Imran Khan, the prime minister of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, has been passed by a majority of the total membership of the National Assembly.
AMY GOODMAN: As we reported, Pakistani lawmakers have just chosen the opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif as the country’s new prime minister. This comes as members of Khan’s PTI party announced they have decided to resign en masse from Parliament. Khan loyalist Shah Mahmoud Qureshi, the former foreign minister, said, quote, “This house is going to elect a new prime minister but everyone knows … (Sharif) is being imposed and does not have the mandate of the people… We reject this process and also announce a boycott of the election for Prime Minister.”
For more, we’re joined by two guests. In Islamabad, Pakistan, Tooba Syed is with us, a Pakistani activist and member of the left-wing Awami Workers Party. She’s also affiliated with the Women Democratic Front, an independent socialist-feminist resistance movement. And in London, we’re joined by the historian, activist, filmmaker and author Tariq Ali. He’s on the editorial committee of the New Left Review, author of many books, including Uprising in Pakistan: How to Bring Down a Dictatorship, which came out in 2018, and Can Pakistan Survive?
Welcome to both of you. I want to begin in Pakistan. Tooba Syed, can you respond to the ouster of Imran Khan and his description of what happened as a U.S.-backed coup?
TOOBA SYED: Thank you, Amy.
Just to begin with, I feel like this is probably the first time in Pakistan that a prime minister has been constitutionally removed from his position. And I think that’s particularly important to remember, that in the history Pakistan we’ve seen multiple prime ministers removed from their positions without a constitutional process. It’s usually been done by military interventions, so it’s definitely a good step forward in terms of democracy in Pakistan that this was not done through a military dictatorship or military intervention, but done through a vote of no confidence, which went through the Parliament or the National Assembly itself.
As far as his own allegations are concerned regarding this being U.S.-backed, frankly, Khan hasn’t presented any kind of substantial evidence, at least to the public, which confirms his allegations. We have no evidence of anything that he’s alleging right now. So, you know, as long as he doesn’t provide a solid evidence or a testimony or any kind of document, it’s very hard to say that what he’s alleging is true. I mean, he literally waved a piece of paper in the air, saying, “This is a letter that I’ve gotten which speaks about the U.S. involvement in my removal.” And beyond that, we know nothing. So it’s very difficult to say for us right now that whatever he’s alleging is actually true.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about why he was removed?
TOOBA SYED: I mean, there were various reasons for his removal. He was never favored by the opposition since the very beginning, because Khan came into power by actually alleging that the opposition leaders, almost all the parties, especially the former prime minister, Mian Nawaz Sharif, were involved in corruption. And none of the charges that he alleged against the opposition or the then-government have not been proven in any of the courts. So, one reason for his ouster is also that he was not favored by any of the opposition leaders.
His own allies in this vote of no confidence, who formed the government with him — and that’s how he was able to form the government — went against him. His own party — the people who won from his party ticket in the national elections actually went against him and voted the vote of no confidence. And also the economical situation — the economical situation in the country has gotten much, much worse since Khan came into power and after his last agreement with the IMF.
AMY GOODMAN: Tariq Ali, from your vantage point in London, though of course you are originally from Pakistan, can you talk about what you think is behind what took place? I mean, it is not unusual that a prime minister hasn’t finished his term; since the establishment of the state of Pakistan, I don’t think any prime minister has completed a term. Pakistan has had 29 prime ministers since 1947. None completed a full five-year term.
TARIQ ALI: This is absolutely true, Amy. And one reason they didn’t complete their terms is that the military took over at key points of the country’s history. We’ve had three military coup d’états, one that led to the breakup of the country as it was in 1947. This happened in 1971. And subsequently, Nawaz Sharif, whose brother is now the prime minister, his ham-fisted attempt to retire the chief of staff, General Musharraf, by kidnapping him and not letting his plane land, led to Musharraf’s military coup, which stayed in power for several years. So, we’ve had a very tormented political history in that country. And I think one thing which we should remember is that regardless of whether there is a military coup or not, the military plays a central role in the country in its foreign and defense policies and often in deciding who becomes prime minister and who doesn’t. Anyone who’s been prime minister in the ’80s and ’90s will tell you that. There’s constant advice/interference from the Army.
So, as far as Imran is concerned, he had been brought — he had not got a majority in the election he won. And these tiny parties, which usually do the bidding of the military, were, you know, lined up to provide him with a majority. The opposition, which is no better, in my opinion — it’s wrong to present them in any way as offering any real alternative in that country — has been clamoring for three years for a vote of no confidence. Suddenly it happens, and these parties that had been organized to back Imran withdraw their support. His own party is split.
One thing has to be said. If you ask, “Has the PTI government achieved anything?” I would say no. It’s had — faced tough economic problems. It’s gone to the IMF. All that is true. But it had no vision at all, just like the other political parties in the country. So it became like them. And all the promises of modernizing Pakistan, changing it forever, amounted to nothing. At the same time, corruption continued, including from Imran’s family. His latest wife, Bushra Bibi, has a circle of friends around her who have made pots of money by appointing a complete imbecile as chief minister of the Punjab. So, all these things began to weigh up.
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