Pakistan Aims for $5 Billion Mobile Phone Exports in Next 5 Years, Reveals IT Minister
Published on: February 1, 2024.
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Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party is optimistic about winning the majority of seats in the upcoming elections on February 8th, despite a crackdown on its supporters and recent convictions of its leader. The PTI, founded by Khan in 1996, aims to bring social justice to the country.
Khan has been in jail since August last year after being sentenced to three years for failing to declare assets gained from the sale of gifts he received as Prime Minister from 2018 to 2022. This week, he was handed a ten-year jail term for leaking contents of a secret diplomatic cable from the United States (US) to the public. Additionally, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison for profiting from the sale of state gifts he received while in office.
The PTI failed to win any seats in the first general elections in 1997, and in 2002, only Khan himself won from his home constituency of Mianwali in the Punjab province. The party boycotted the 2008 general elections held under the rule of then military dictator General Pervez Musharraf. However, the PTI’s popularity started to rise from 2011 onwards when Khan opposed US drone strikes in the country’s tribal regions and organized anti-drone attack marches.
In the 2013 general elections, the PTI emerged as a major party, receiving over 7.5 million votes. It formed its government in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. Khan’s intensive campaign in the 2018 elections won his party 149 seats in the National Assembly, and he became the country’s Prime Minister with the help of allied parties.
However, Khan’s rule was short-lived as he was ousted in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence in April 2022. He accused the country’s military of being behind his removal, referring to a US diplomatic cable as a “conspiracy” against his government. The military and Washington denied the allegations.
Following his removal, Khan led massive public rallies, and his party won 28 out of 37 national and provincial by-elections. In an attempt to seek early national elections, his legislators resigned from the National Assembly and the party dissolved provincial assemblies in Punjab and KP. However, the then coalition government led by prime minister Shehbaz Sharif refused to hold the national elections.
During Shehbaz’s tenure, numerous criminal cases were filed against Khan as he defied the military and government. The ex-premier has been booked in over 170 cases with charges ranging from terrorism to corruption. A state crackdown began against his supporters and party members, which resulted in many senior PTI figures defecting or being arrested.
Last month, Khan’s party was barred from participating in the upcoming elections after the Supreme Court deprived it of its election symbol, a cricket bat. However, recent public surveys indicate that Khan remains the country’s most popular leader.
Despite the challenges, the PTI remains optimistic. Raoof Hassan, the PTI information secretary, stated that the party has a strategy in place to unite all its winning candidates under the PTI banner in the assemblies. Political analysts believe that the PTI may face difficulties in the short term, but its young voter base in urban centers could support the party in the long run.
Overall, the PTI is determined to overcome the obstacles it faces and believes it has a bright political future despite the state crackdown on its supporters and leaders. Only time will tell if the party’s optimism is justified as the nation prepares for the upcoming elections.
Source: Arab News
