Decline in foreign direct investment, short-term inflation, heightened political unrest after May 9 Imran Niazi’s party instigated attack on military institutions and increased terrorism-related fatalities, Islamic Republic of Pakistan it is today at total war with itself with the constitutional institutions that participate in the rot.
File photo of May 9 violence in Punjab by PTI supporters after its mercurial leader Imran Khan Niazi was arrested in a corruption case.
The Pakistan Army is humiliated by the image of its then Lahore Corps Commander, Lt Gen Salman Fayyaz Ghani, pleading with PTI rioters on May 9 to save Jinnah House, the commander’s residence, and his family . While Ghanni was ousted for his cowardice, his replacement apparently refused to take the job of commanding Pakistan’s most powerful body, signaling a split within the military over action against Niazi. The new Lahore Corps Commander is Lt. Gen. Syed Aamer Raza.
The army under General Asim Munir has retaliated and is booking PTI politicians and mutineers, who even desecrated the statutes of Pakistan’s war heroes, under the strict Army Act and the Secret Act official to avoid a judiciary that is openly soft on Niazi and his ilk. former soldiers The process of Niazi’s isolation has begun with top PTI leaders abandoning the former cricketer and there is a strong possibility that the PTI party, once the darling of the Rawalpindi GHQ, will be banned.
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However, Pakistan watchers say uncertainty and turmoil in the Islamic nation will continue until September, when both the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the PTI nominated Pakistani President Arif Alvi, as the two constitutional heads they have a soft spot for Niazi and his brand of radical politics.
Although the political mess is exposed, Pakistan recorded a total of 226 terrorism-related fatalities in April 2023, the highest number since February 2022, with an 86% increase in fatalities to the security forces and a slight increase in terrorist killings. These data indicate an escalation initiated by terrorism and increased terrorist capabilities on the ground, with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the most violent region in Pakistan followed by Balochistan, Sindh and Punjab provinces.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban terrorist group in Pakistan is on a rampage with no less than 148 attacks with 294 casualties till April and no less than 28 militant groups have joined the TTP since July 2020, including Baloch groups. Outlawed jihadist groups like Laskar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) openly raised funds from Pakistanis ₹300 per family as ‘Fitrana’ during the last Eid across Pakistan, with LeT Deputy Emir and Globally Designated Terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki launching a new Pakistan Muslim League Markazi for the upcoming Assembly elections in Punjab.
Just as the Shehbaz Sharif government is grappling with the May 9 political chaos in Pakistan, the country’s economic situation has hit rock bottom with the IMF yet to deliver a $1.1 billion tranche to the impoverished country. Short-term inflation, based on the sensitive price index, rose to 45.62% and FDI inflows declined by 22.5% to $1.04 billion in the first nine months of exercise in progress
Pakistan attracts the lowest FDI in the region and inflows have been declining over the past three years from $2.6 billion in 2019-20 to $1.9 billion in fiscal 2022. The country’s foreign exchange reserves have improved marginally to $4.46 billion in the week ending April 20.
To sum it up, Pakistan today is between a rock and a hard place with a precarious economic and political system and the reputation of its savior, the Pakistan Army, in tatters at the hands of unscrupulous power-hungry politicians like Niazi.
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