Columnist Muzamal Suharwardy said on Tuesday that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan’s politics had kickstarted from and concluded at the establishment.
Suharwardy made the comments while speaking at flagship Naya Daur TV show Khabar Say Aagay. The columnist said Imran knew he had no chance of acceding to office without the establishment’s assistance. Imran, he said, knew how his decades-long struggle was in vain till he received the establishment’s blessings.
Imran, Suharwardy said, also knew that the establishment would never let any individual with an anti-American orientation lead the nation. This explained why he had been striving to cultivate better ties with the United States.
Better ties with the establishment were the PTI chairman’s primary focus. Other political forces simply did not figure on his agenda, Suhrawardy said. Commenting on Imran’s denial of presenting COAS General Bajwa with an offer to extend his tenure, he said Imran was basically desisting from revealing all his cards. At the same time, the columnist said, he was signaling his readiness to mend fences with the establishment.
Political scientist Ayesha Siddiqa said she did not have high hopes from the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Uzbekistan. Siddiqa said India-Pakistan relations would not progress unless a one-on-one meeting transpired between premiers of the two countries. She said there was no development on this front from India either. Siddiqa said the time was ripe for former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to reveal who repeatedly sabotaged his peace overtures to India.
Flagship Naya Daur TV show Khabar Say Aagay streams Monday to Friday at 9pm.
