Dear Editor,
Reference is made to cricket star turned politician Imran Khan who lost a no confidence motion on Saturday evening. There are important lessons, applicable to Guyana, from Saturday’s NCM vote. A no confidence motion was filed about a month ago and was to be debated and voted upon a week ago. To avoid certain defeat, Imran dissolved parliament and announced fresh election to be held within ninety days. This is similar to what happened in Guyana in 2014; with the opposition wanting election, President’s Ramotar suspension of parliament was not challenged. The opposition in Pakistan challenged the dissolution in court that ruled in its favour ordering a vote on Saturday. The government honoured the court’s ruling. Imran’s backed MPs (167) boycotted the vote while 174 voted in support of the NCM. Imran lost and tendered his resignation unlike in Guyana when the President and PM held on to office. Imran’s MPs announced they will all resign their seats.
One has to understand why Imran has fallen and learn lessons as applicable to Guyana. When he came to power in August 2018, there was much hope and promise as Shamshun Mohamed pointed out. Imran has fallen because he refused to toe the line on greed and corruption of his opponents. He was a crusader against corruption and refused to compromise – a good quality. He could not turn around the economy that was on the brink of collapse as was the case in Guyana when Hoyte assumed power in 1985 and Jagan in 1992. Hoyte and Jagan were able to turn around the economy with support from western countries. Imran alienated himself from the West. He lacked an understating of how parliamentary democracy works knowing he lacked a majority for political survival; it was akin to governance in Guyana between 2012-and 2014 – when the government lacked a majority but refused to make deals with the opposition for political survival.
Imran also unnecessarily attacked the US, similar to what happened in Guyana between 2013 and 2015. The US has been a kind of guarantor of democracy and free and fair elections in Pakistan, akin to US measures to protect democracy in Guyana. Imran became PM because of US insistence the world over that governments come to power through the ballot box as happened in Guyana in 1992, 2015, and 2020. Yet, he demonstrated ingratitude becoming critical of the US, accusing it of wanting to remove him from office. There is no evidence to support his preposterous claim. Guyanese politicians should take heed of the importance of the US in foreign relations.
Sincerely,
Vishnu Bisram
