Well glad to know about your stance.
What do you mean by bringing in Faiz? In PTI after retirement?
Anyway I think openly confronting institutions is not good for your country, let alone politics. PMLN also bashed Bajwa etc publicly, but are now heaping praise for his ‘pro democratic’ role.
I cant see PDM doing anything meaningful- I mean you have a party of 140 sitting out of govt! PPP and PMLN are ideologically poles apart, they cant go into elections as being allies. It is on an ever thinner majority, and how do you satisfy so many coalition partners? None of them are together only for making the country better by the way.
What I fear is all the gains against terror and crime, specifically in Karachi will start reversing - since PMLN is now dependent on PPP and MQM, what can it do if target killing and extortion returns to Karachi? Right now Establishment doesn’t seem to have a good standing in any major party, so they might just be spectators while people are getting killed. I dont agree that PTI is completely a creation of establishment, sure they may have played a role, but the support base of PTI and its vote bank is there. It may swing up and down but Punjab will be PMLN vs PTI and same in KPk. It has essentially replaced PPP in Punjab and Kpk.
1. The plan of PTI that got frustrated was getting Gen Faiz Hameed to be COAS. That was the assurance needed for a ten year rule by manipulation of GE 2023. While nominally (then Maj. Gen) Faiz Hameed served as Head of CI, he was busy managing politics 2017-18. His role was pivotal in securing (s)election of PTI in 2018. I do not think it is a good idea to discuss him beyond this further since he is currently serving in the army.
2. PML-N publicly named Gen Bajwa & Faiz to put them under pressure. It was the logical thing to do, since they were responsible for rigging GE2018 & the state-backed persecution that PML-N faced was (via courts & NAB) at their behest for sake of getting PTI (s)elected. I know PTI supporters have a hard time accepting this, but this is the bare truth. If you accept that COAS QJB played a role in 2022, you have to admit that this role was there 2017-18 also.
3. PML-N is just another political party in an immature polity. They will raise slogans as strategy (who doesn't?) but will keep themselves tactically pragmatic. When it comes to judging political parties, one must note their professed values, charters, slogans, & rhetoric; but the real deal is their performance - what they actually do & accomplish. For this we need to look at longer term (> 2 years at least) when their impact becomes apparent.
4. Gains against terror started getting compromised 2017 when Counter Intelligence busied itself with politics. TTP had been organizing themselves quietly ever since then. What you see happening today is a result of (run up to & beyond) GE2018. Don't worry, we are not going back to the days of daily bomb blasts & Karachi lock-downs. While TTP has reorganized itself & is energized by Taliban government in Kabul, Pakistan Army is taking them on & not allowing them to spread via peace-deals etc.
5. When it comes to MQM, do note that the Vote of No Confidence is an Opposition move. This is what political Opposition does the world over. No need to think of this as a coalition which would cede space to MQM-London. Even if it did, MQM has been very well defanged. Interesting bit for you to mull over is that PML-N eschewed MQM overtures as far back as in 2010. NS was determined not to take MQM on-board at all just so they could be sorted out. This worked well. Why would PML-N wish to go back to days when MQM had a monopoly over Karachi by using terror as its weapon? PML-N always prioritizes development & Economy & that is why its program included eliminating MQM terror even though there was little chance for PML-N to secure electoral victory from Karachi.
6. I am quite sure that any coalition government would come in with a specific agenda and once that is achieved, we'll have fresh elections.
I would caution you not to take maximalist positions, a la PTI, even if you are a supporter. There is a difference in rhetoric & reality. If you continue to see things from the perspective of rhetoric of any one political party, you would set yourself up for disappointments. Remember all those U-turns taken by IK? It was rhetoric being crushed by reality. So, if IK says all others are looters & plunderers & anti-Pakistan, do take that with a heap of salt. All that means is "give me power", & nothing more than that. At the end, it is about what parties accomplished.
