The West German rock band ‘Scorpions’ wrote a song “Wind of Change” in 1991, to reflect the changing situation in the Soviet Union just before its break-up.

Pakistan is also currently witnessing its own winds of change going by the early January outburst of Defence Minister Pervez Khattak against Hammad Azhar, the energy minister and Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Turmoil within the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is no longer under the surface. It is very much visible, and the war drums are audible.

Price rise, energy crisis, and unemployment have become political football with people hitting the streets from Peshawar to Lahore and Karachi to Quetta. Reports also speak of widespread disillusionment within the military establishment over Imran Khan’s handling of internal security, and Afghanistan though he is generally perceived as the ‘selected prime minister’ of the Khakis, who call the shots in Pakistan.

Khattak could pose a threat to Prime Minister Imran Khan in the short to medium term. He enjoys the support of eighty lawmakers in the lower house of Parliament (National Assembly) for an ‘in-house’ change, Maiteen Haider reported in the influential Lahore daily, The Nation, on 16 January.

For the record, Khattak has since denied any differences with Imran Khan. The denial has few takers, though.

His outburst in the parliamentary party meeting (13 January) occurred a day after his reported absence from the launch of Pakistan’s new National Security Policy. This has lent credence to recent reports that serious cracks have developed in the ruling party.

Pervez Khattak believes that his province, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, (KP), is getting a raw deal. His discomfiture stems from the fact that everybody in KP treats him as the face of the government locally but he is helpless even while heading the key defence portfolio.

“KP is being neglected in the provision of electricity and gas while these facilities are being enjoyed by the people of other provinces,” he fumed as Imran Khan squirmed. And bluntly told the Prime Minister that “if the situation lingered on, the people of KP would not vote for the PTI.”

Khattak is not alone in attacking Imran Khan, who is at the receiving end from several quarters, the Army including.

Noor Alam, a PTI veteran, who, like Khattak, hails from KP, is more forthright in his critique. “It seems that Peshawar is not a district of this country, but Mianwali and Swat are,” he said comparing his home town to the Prime Minister’s constituency. And created a flutter in political circles, saying “Am I not a Pakistani, am I only here to cast my vote?”

Pointing towards the front rows of the treasury benches, where Prime Minister Khan also sits as leader of the house, Noor Alam delivered a homily: “Members who occupy the first three rows (of the treasury benches) are the main culprits of the chaos in the country, so put their names on Exit Control List (ECL) and Pakistan will survive.”

The Noor Alam-Speak raised political temperature with the opposition saying that the Imran’s party is over.

Two more leaders from the ruling party stable have publicly hit the defiance button. One of them has gone to the town holding his own party brass responsible for the ‘present chaos’ in the country carved out of British India in 1947 as the land of the pure for Muslims. Another leader claimed that the gas produced in KP province was not being supplied to its residents, rather it was going to citizens in other parts of the country and that parliament was being fooled by the government over the quantum of gas given to KP.

Both Noor Alam and Khattak earned the wrath of Prime Minister Imran Khan, who has been selling dreams of ‘Riyasat-E- Madina’, an Islamic welfare state modelled on the State of Madina, and on the guiding principles of the Prophet. He did not take kindly to their criticism, and snubbed Khattak to the surprise of everyone present.

“Don’t blackmail me”, he thundered, according to a media report under the heading “Pervez Khattak confronts PM Imran at parliamentary party meeting”.

Khan was apparently exercised over the Khattak -Speak: “I will not vote for the Prime Minister if new gas connections aren’t given to my people”. The fireworks culminated in the Defence Minister’s walk out and he justified it later as a walk out ‘just for smoking,’ to quote the sedate daily, Dawn.

The Minister has since played down his angst but that is neither here nor there. And political observers are asking if Pervez Khattak will be the nemesis of cricketer-playboy- turned – politician. If he and his loyalist lawmakers close ranks with the Opposition or at least lend their tacit support, Pakistan will see winds of change with the National Assembly adopting a no trust motion against Imran Khan.

Both the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) are currently unable to forge consensus on ‘no trust’ vote issue. PPP sources told The Nation that they were interested in first removing the Speaker Asad Qaiser. But for that, PPP needs support of other parties, which is not on the table, as of now. It is too early to crystal gaze how things will play out.

There is no denying, however, about the churning in Imran Khan party. Islamabad is rife with rumours that over two dozen PTI lawmakers are planning to defect to either PML-N or Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F). A PTI ticket holder from Sargodha (Punjab) reportedly joined the PPP following his meeting with the Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

The short point is that Prime Minister Imran Khan has either lost or losing the support of his own partymen. His allies, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), PML-Q and the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) are also unhappy. At the parliamentary party meeting, the allies complained that they were not consulted before introducing the IMF-decreed mini-budget and asked the government to withdraw taxes on daily use items.

The MQM’s Iqbal Mohammad Ali Khan clearly put Imran Khan on notice with his stinging criticism over taxes in the mini-budget. “Yes, we are allies of the Prime Minister. But we do not come here only to vote and merely to go through motions,” he declared.

Disillusionment with Imran Khan is currently so high that JeI chief Sirajul Haq has dubbed the Prime Minister as an “international beggar”. He is convinced that Imran’s departure is going to happen soon.

Political observers are convinced that PTI lawmakers are dissatisfied with the Imran Khan’s government as they bear the brunt of public anger. Many of them are currently showing their anguish in official meetings. This trend is unlikely to last for long and going by local media reports more Noor Alam Khans are likely to appear in Parliament. It will be a clear signal that PTI MPs want the change of the leader of the house of their party.

The wind of change would not stop in Islamabad; it would reach Lahore and Peshawar within no time, opines The Nation.

Since the Army is the factor in Pakistan politics, Imran Kahn may look to Gen Qamar Bajwa for help, and in a quid pro quo offer him a second extension when his term ends this November. Bajwa was appointed to the top post in 2016 by Nawaz Sharif. Imran Kahn gave him an extension in 2019.

But the mood within the Army is against Imran Khan, both for retaining Gen. Bajwa, and for his abject failure to handle internal security. Also, because the military is at the receiving end of criticism of the people for the existential crisis the selected Prime Minister has created for the country.

A slogan heard during recent protests in the Punjab province has sent alarming bells. It has virtually put the blame for the mess at the GHQ door-step.

“Bhukkay reh gaye main te tu,
Lut ke lay gaya GHQ”

(Who is hungry? Me and You, Who has plundered? GHQ)

Islamabad is rife with rumours of a possible deal between Gen Bajwa and PML-N to topple the PTI -led government. Prime Minister Khan has pooh-poohed the rumours. Also, stuck to the refrain that he personally is not under any kind of pressure. And set tongues wagging within and outside the Army.

Put simply, the failing economy, the failed Prime Minister and the clueless ruling party combined with disillusioned politicians and an Army tasting power by proxy may herald the long-awaited winds of change and usher in better days in Pakistan to the delight of Khattaks and Noor Alams. (POREG)