Crusaders of Capital: the Coup Against Imran Khan

Assalamu alaikum. Everyone. This is Shahid Bolson. Welcome to the Middle Nation. As a politician, I have never been particularly impressed with Imran Khan.

I think administration of a state is over his head. I think he lacks the cunning and ruthlessness required to achieve virtuous long term objectives for Pakistan. And, yes, this is what is required. Running a state is not social work, and being prime minister means more than just having the biggest member in the country for making moral declarations. I think Imran Khan is a good and well intentioned man who loves Islam and loves his country, but politics is deep and shark infested waters.

Now I'm an outsider, and internal politics in Pakistan is opaque and complex even for an insider. So I can't talk about what goes on in that country with any expertise. I don't know about that. But what I do know about and what I can talk about are the agendas, the motives, and the modus operandi of external forces that wield influence in Pakistan. And knowing what I know, there's no doubt in my mind that the ouster of Imran Khan from the government in Pakistan was a coup engineered by these forces.

Now I wrote about the coup of Provez Musharraf back in 1999.

We shall preserve the integrity and sovereignty of our country to the last drop of our blood.

And cited the fact that the IMF had lost confidence in Nawaz Sharif. Back in 1999, they had stalled negotiations for further loans to Pakistan because they doubted Nawaz Sharif's capability of enforcing the necessary austerity measures that they demanded. That was before the coup. After the coup, new loans were granted, and today, Pakistan has tripled its debt to foreign international creditors, including the IMF. When he was first elected initially, Emron Khan took an anti IMF stance.

Pakistan Kabiq is is a big name on the guy.

But in 2019, he buckled under economic pressure and agreed to a harsh structural adjustment program in order to receive a new bailout from the IMF that was going to be dispersed over the course of three years. So he began to advocate austerity, and he tried to demonstrate in his own personal behavior compliance with austerity and belt tightening measures to try to inspire the population to accept austerity. It didn't work.

Islamabad was taken by a storm of union led protests from various sections. These included government employees, farmers, doctors, teachers, and a host of others.

Because at the end of the day, austerity is not a program that builds stable economies and prosperity. It's just a form of oppression and exploitation for the benefit of the rich. On March 2, Imran Khan let his conscience get the better of him, and he announced a new relief package for Pakistan aimed at reviving the economy and helping the poor. Every element of this program was at odds with IMF demands, and he was immediately reprimanded.

The IMF has decided that Pakistan cannot withdraw money from its own state bank, the State Bank of Pakistan.

The next disbursement of funds from that 2019 loan agreement were put indefinitely on hold until or unless Imran Khan agreed to scrap that relief package. He didn't agree. And now, like Nawaz Sharif before him, he is a former prime minister of Pakistan. The IMF has announced that they are ready and willing to begin negotiations with the new government, any government. Nawaz Sharif lost the trust of the IMF because of his corruption.

What else can a dictator do?

Imran Khan lost the trust of the IMF because he's not corrupt. Sharif lost it because he wasn't capable of imposing the austerity measures that they demanded, and Imran Khan because he was no longer willing to do so. Pakistan is a model for why neoliberalism does not work or, anyway, why it doesn't work for anyone except for a handful of wealthy elites, both global and domestic. It does not only not support the development of an independent sovereign stable economy, it actively opposes it. The IMF is more than willing to continue lengthening Pakistan's indebted servitude with endless loans, but what they are not willing to tolerate is Pakistan taking any steps to build a stable and prosperous economy.

Now as I said, I don't believe that Imran Khan has the political acumen to even know what those steps might be, but he exhibited a defiance and a will and a desire for independence that made global capital uncomfortable.

Dollars current account deficit IMF long term plan in Pakistan His

forced removal is what the American pivot to Asia looks like if we do not fortify ourselves, build solidarity and cooperation, and start taking our economic sovereignty seriously.