Ambar wrote:
In the end the youthias will get their backs handed to them by this weekend if they don't return to their homes. Ironically the kaptaan may yet survive to play again if the economy worsens. If the oil subsidies have to be rolled back, if PKR continues to fall and if the paki economy looks like it is close to default then both the Shariffs and Bajwa & Co. will look for an exit strategy, and that strategy may be nudge the supreme court to give some judgement in favor of Imran to take back the reigns. Interesting days ahead..
...said so yesterday and the "long march" has been called off by kaptaan saab today when he was right outside the border of Islamabad ! Shiekh Rashid is now saying that there will be another "long march" if the government does not call for elections soon !
The net result of this drama ? Officially 5 PTI suckers who believed in their messiah are dead and several injured. Many cops and paramilitary forces are also injured. Millions of worthless paki rupee property has been damaged and the youthias who emptied their savings to fill their cars will now have to go home broke with tails tucked , damaged cars, injured lungs and legs ! The establishment continues to hold the ultimate stick in al bakistan, Imran would have received a clear message that he'll be sunroofed if he enters Islamabad.
So what next ? Probably fresh elections before Bajwa's term expires . Show some semblance of functioning democracy to get loans from IMF, use the Shariffs to get oil from KSA and UAE, removed some subsidies and then let the government collapse.
I asked this question in the 'Pakistan Economic Stress watch' thread a month ago - why did the establishment decide to pull the plug on Imran now knowing how bad the economic situation is ? The smart thing to do was to let Imran fall on his own sword, pull the subsidies, let inflation run wild and let the citizens bay for his blood. Then call for elections and install the shariffs as "white knights" to save the day. Instead the establishment ended up helping Imran by taking the pressure off him, making him a martyr and pretty much closing the doors on shariffs returning to power for the next 3 yrs.