In the aftermath of brazenly rigged elections of 8 February, Pakistan has unveiled a new parliament, government, and cabinet of ministers, in a spectacle carefully choreographed by its military establishment. The latest coalition government is headed by Shehbaz Sharif, the pliant politician who did the army’s bidding in the 16-month Pakistan Democratic Movement government that replaced the government led by Imran Khan, but was disbanded for the elections. The astute Asif Ali Zardari is back for a second term as President. Maryam Nawaz is taking her first stab at governance as Chief Minister of Punjab. Her father, thrice-deposed PM Nawaz Sharif, has been sidelined, under the looming threat of losing his Lahore parliamentary seat to a recount of votes. The victor of the elections, Imran Khan, languishes in Adiala jail, now forbidden from running his post-election politics from there. The army has achieved its objective of a ‘minus Imran’ and ‘minus Nawaz’ political landscape, even if army chief Asim Munir’s political tricks department could not stop the voters from giving a tantalising glimpse of an alternate universe, where Imran Khan’s PTI would have won and run the government.
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