PM #ImranKhan sets the stage for his legacy in a huge, impressive rally in #Islamabad, characterizing himself as a living martyr facing off international conspiracy to unseat him. He did not offer evidence but waved a document as proof. The rally achieves its two targets.. /1
PM #ImranKhan achieves two targets: to try impress power centers within the country that he remains popular, which he partially does (with diehard voters); and to engage those voters in a larger foreign policy issue beyond electoral accountability of performance & governance. /2
Aside from the secret document that PM #ImranKhan is not revealing (yet) to protect national interest, it is not a secret that his biggest foreign policy confrontations occurred with the #KSA #UAE #France, and misunderstandings with #China. /3
PM #ImranKhan's issues with the West are fairly recent; the #US & #EU remain engaged with #Pakistan diplomatically+militarily+economically; except for simmering political tensions with #PTIGovernment. The Govt has stepped back a little on #Russia to engage #Ukraine. /4
So, the impressive #PTI power show tonight is a dice thrown in the hope that it would help change minds before the no-confidence vote. And the rally sets the narrative for the day PM #ImranKhan will be out of power, whenever that happens. /5
The day after: Will PM #ImranKhan's large political rally yesterday (that also claimed an international conspiracy to unseat him) help improve the perceptions about his popularity and maybe make some dent in the famed 'neutrality'? The million-dollar question that begs an answer.
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