US Congressional report says country's military establishment continues to retain dominant influence over foreign, security issues
Imran Khan. Pic/AFP
Washington: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's vision of a 'Naya Pakistan', which had appealed to many of the younger, middle-class Pakistani voters, has foundered due to the country's acute financial crisis, even as the powerful military establishment continues to retain dominant influence over foreign and security issues, a US Congressional report has said. The report — Pakistan's Domestic Political Setting — has been prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS).
The report prepared for US lawmakers by the bipartisan Congressional Research Service says Khan, who had been a cricket superstar, "jet-setting playboy", and philanthropist, has been a "vehement critic of the US in the past and is viewed by some as sympathetic towards Islamist militants".
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On the 2018 elections that catapulted Khan to victory and ended the reign of the two dynastic parties — Pakistan Peoples Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz — the report said, "Many analysts contend that Pakistan's security services covertly manipulated the country's domestic politics before and during the election with a central motive of removing Nawaz Sharif from power." "A purported military-judiciary nexus allegedly came to favour Khan's PTI. Election observers and human rights groups issued statements pointing to abuses of democratic norms," it said.
Pak PM embarrassed over pending power bills
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan faces an embarrassing situation as an electricity company has threatened to disconnect the power supply to his sprawling office in Islamabad if the bills worth lakhs of rupees were not paid by his cash-strapped government. The Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) on Wednesday issued a notice to the PM Secretariat that it would cut off the power supply if the bills were not cleared. The IESCO said the PM Office owed Rs 41 lakhs.
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