Islamabad: All is not well for the Pakistani Prime Minister, Imran Khan, as experts believe that he might be replaced by the all powerful Pakistani Army Chief, General Qamar Bajwa.
Reports say that the Pakistani army is not at all happy with the performance of the Imran Khan, especially in handling the economy which has been nose diving, and might choose to replace him to head the government.
The speculation about the replacement became stronger when the General held secret meetings with business leaders. Experts say that Pakistani Army is not just a security force of the nation but also acts as a corporate entity with business interests in diverse fields such as real estate, banking, sugar, oil, cement, aviation, etc.
Former diplomat, G. Parthasarathy said, “The army runs an empire within the state. They are in a big way into real estate, sugar, and oil, and run the largest National Logistics Cell and are into building roads and infrastructure. They get preferential treatment in their business, and thus it irks the civilians.”
The Army, which is all powerful in that country without winning a single war, uses tax payers money to bolster their profits. The civilian government is no match for the clout that the army enjoys.
The economy of Pakistan is in jeopardy and might further fall into chaos if the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) decides to black list the country. The nation is already in the grey list and if blacklisted then the country will lose international funding and support.
Imran Khan has failed to revive the economy or bring any semblance of order in the nation. He was not able to handle the Kashmir issue well and failed to garner international support for his cause.
India’s strong assertiveness under Narendra Modi further faded the sheen of Imran Khan and he has further become an object of criticism in his own country.
All this points to a change of guard in the Islamic nation sponsored by its over powerful army under General Bajwa.