Pakistan's wildcard politician Imran Khan says he is happy to go into
opposition if his "tsunami" of popular support fails to bring him a
landslide victory at elections now widely expected within months.
The
59-year-old former cricketer has ridden a wave of support buoyed by
mass rallies and has openly backed the courts' pursuit of embattled
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
But
in an interview with AFP at his hilltop villa outside Islamabad, Khan
admitted that his fledgling Movement for Justice could suffer if a
series of crises force general elections earlier than September or
October.
"The 'tsunami' is ready. We will be ready. Obviously it
suits our party... if this government goes for another six months," he
said.
Under the Pakistani constitution, a government resigns in
favour of an administration of technocrats for up to three months before
a general election.
If the current government collapses earlier
than the summer, Khan could see his popularity -- built on the back of
nationalist rhetoric delivered with messianic zeal and rousing musical
performances -- put to a premature test.
"We would happily go into
the opposition if we can't form a government because basically it's a
battle between forces of status quo and forces of change," Khan told
AFP.
Speculation is widespread in Pakistan that Khan's party is
being quietly groomed by the powerful military, which are believed to
back moves in the courts to chip away at Zardari and Gilani's authority.
"I think it's the endgame because the government -- it's been openly defying the Supreme Court," said Khan.
"I
don't think the Supreme Court is going to back down. They've called the
prime minister dishonest so really in any decent democracy he should
have resigned by now and then asked to go back to the people."
But
he added: "No one wants martial law in this country, none of us want
it. I think the time for martial law is over in Pakistan."
Khan
insists his relationship with the generals is a "sensible" one that
would put him clearly in charge should his party sweep to power.
"If I'm the prime minister, if I have the responsibility, I have the authority," he said.
Predictions
for early polls have inched forward as tensions have risen between the
prime minister and army, and with the Supreme Court now holding Gilani
in contempt of court.
The contempt order given by judges adjudicating corruption claims leaves the government's fate perilously unclear.
Analysts
say that however it plays out, momentum is building for early
elections, officially due at the beginning of 2013, but now believed
more probable in either April or September-October.
Khan rules out
forming a coalition with any of the "status quo" parties he considers
venal and corrupt -- Zardari's Pakistan People's Party or opposition
PML-N led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
Instead he is
confident that his prescription for Pakistan -- unbuckling the country
from the US-led war on terror alliance with the United States by
refusing foreign aid and launching a massive austerity drive, will
succeed.
But political commentators say Khan's vision of a united
Pakistan free from mafia and liberated from foreign influence is a pipe
dream playing to a receptive crowd as the country faces renewed
political uncertainty.
Malaysia, Turkey, South Africa and even
Scandinavia are cited as models of inspiration for Khan and among the
youth, his message is being widely embraced.
"He is giving them
dreams, dreams for the future," said Hasan Askari. "But we don't know
whether he will be able to realise those dreams."
Journalist Najam
Sethi said Khan's message feeds the mindset of the majority of
disaffected lower middle class Pakistani voters -- conservative, Muslim
and increasingly anti-American.
"He is, shall we say, the most
articulate anti-American shrill voice in this country -- number one.
Number two, Imran is also now pandering to certain religious symbols,"
Sethi said.
Khan's next rally is planned for March 23 in Quetta,
capital of restive Baluchistan province, which is wracked with
separatist violence and mass deprivation. AFP
