# Info on Pakistan protest march? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 20, 2014, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/info-on-pakistan-protest-march/696033 "2014-08-20T20:13:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boogly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Boogly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boogly)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/info-on-pakistan-protest-march/696033/1 "2014-08-20T20:13:54Z")
The Dope is awesome for giving info on matters outside of the US (at least to me). However I haven’t read anything about the protest march(es?) in Pakistan. Just about all information is from mainstream media and I’m like to hear from people in the region about the march. Sorry if this is in the wrong forum. I doubt this is cut and dry so GQ is out; I don’t know if there would be much debate so GD may not fit. ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/info-on-pakistan-protest-march/696033/2 "2014-08-22T10:32:30Z")
I’m ‘in the region’ (India), but of course not properly qualified to comment. We have a Pakistani poster **AK84** who would be better placed to tell you more. My personal sense is that the protests are a last gasp attempt at relevance by Imran Khan, the politician who is leading them. And while they will occupy headlines, they will cause little de jure change in the arrangements in Pakistan. However, they will weaken the PM Nawaz Sharif while strengthening the army. I also feel that it’s important to note that since Pakistani power relationships and dynamics are unusually byzantine, I do not hold that opinion with a great deal of confidence. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/info-on-pakistan-protest-march/696033/3 "2014-08-22T11:16:16Z")
Election was in May 2013. The government in power today won a (bare) majority. There was a question of irregularities in 4(out of 342 total) seats, won by the Government. There has been a long inquiry on the issue and it seems the claims had merit. Compounding the problem is the fact is the Imran Khan is charismatic and popular (I disagree with **blydsabba** on irrelevance while Nawaz Sharif is a barely sentient piece of meet with a patato for a head (can you guess my political position :D), many of NS’s best people are busy abandoning him due to what has been perceived as his tendancy to not take his Parliamentary party into consideration when making decisions only some advisors, which is pretty much in the opposite of what you re supposed to do in a parliamentary system (he was actually censured by the Senate on this issue a few months back). End result is that NS will probably limp on for a few months or years and eventually new elections will come, IK will become even more popular and our cricket team will still suck balls. ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/info-on-pakistan-protest-march/696033/4 "2014-08-22T13:41:16Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Election was in May 2013. The government in power today won a (bare) majority. There was a question of irregularities in 4(out of 342 total) seats, won by the Government. There has been a long inquiry on the issue and it seems the claims had merit. I was under the impression that PMLN won quite convincingly. Wiki has conflicting numbers, but the most authoritative cite I’ve been able to find - [Election Commission of Pakistan](http://ecp.gov.pk/overallpartyposition.pdf) suggests that PMLN is the largest party by a huge margin, with 189 seats to 46 of the PPP. Further digging reveals they won 169 and had a bunch of opportunists join them. Still, in a multi party system, one party getting that many seats is usually a settled win. Unless, that is, the rigging that is alleged was widespread. > [@](#): > > Compounding the problem is the fact is the Imran Khan is charismatic and popular (I disagree with **blydsabba** on irrelevance while Nawaz Sharif is a barely sentient piece of meet with a patato for a head (can you guess my political position :D), I would agree that Imran is by far the more charismatic and likable man. My doubts are about his ability to translate those qualities into political power, and hence my comment about his irrelevance. It could just be the cynic in me. I wouldn’t mind if he proves me wrong in the future. How does that Canadian Qadri fit into the picture? > [@](#): > > End result is that NS will probably limp on for a few months or years and eventually new elections will come, IK will become even more popular and our cricket team will still suck balls. Have the protest been as big as they were expected to be? I thought I read somewhere that they turned out to be (almost literally) a damp squib. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/info-on-pakistan-protest-march/696033/5 "2014-08-22T19:51:09Z")
The protests almost became a small, wet explosive device? ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/info-on-pakistan-protest-march/696033/6 "2014-08-23T03:14:14Z")
> [@Bozuit](#): > > The protests almost became a small, wet explosive device? 🙂 It rained on the first day, making the protests less well attended(and hence less explosive) than supporters would have hoped. ---
**Author:** ![Boogly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Boogly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boogly)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/info-on-pakistan-protest-march/696033/7 "2014-08-23T04:24:12Z")
If I am correct the election cycles are every 5 years and the next election won’t be until 2018 unless the parliament is dissolved. The protest was Imran Khan wanting the resignation of Nawaz Sharif. Do you think the protests will affect Nawaz Sharif in any way? Will the protests do anything other than to keep Imran Khan in the public eye? Thanks for the info given already and I apologize for my gross oversimplification of the situation. ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/info-on-pakistan-protest-march/696033/8 "2014-09-03T14:42:24Z")
AK84 - What’re your thoughts on this article? > **[Army’s questionable decisions](https://www.dawn.com/news/1129263/armys-questionable-decisions)** > > The carefully constructed veneer of neutrality that the army leadership had constructed has been torn apart. > [@](#): > > Consider the sequence of events so far. When the army first publicly waded into the political crisis, it counselled restraint on all sides — as though it was the government that fundamentally still had some questions hanging over its legitimacy simply because Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri alleged so. > > Next, the army crept towards the Khan/Qadri camp by urging the government to facilitate negotiations — as though it was the government that was being unreasonable, and not Mr Khan and Mr Qadri. > > Now, staggeringly, the army has ‘advised’ the government not to use force against violent protesters and essentially told it to make whatever concessions necessary to placate Mr Khan and Mr Qadri. > > It is simply extraordinary that it is the PAT and PTI supporters who want to break into and occupy state buildings, but it is the government that has been rebuked. > > It’s as if the army is unaware — rather, unwilling — to acknowledge the constitutional scheme of things: it is the government that is supposed to give orders to the army, not the other way around. > > The government has already issued its order: invoking Article 245. > > On Saturday, as violent thugs attacked parliament, it was surely the army’s duty to repel them. > > But the soldiers stationed there did nothing and the army leadership the next day warned the government instead of the protesters — which largely explains why the protesters were able to continue their pitched battles with the police and attacked the PTV headquarters yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/info-on-pakistan-protest-march/696033/9 "2014-09-06T06:43:57Z")
Bump. ---
**Author:** ![Boogly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Boogly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boogly)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/info-on-pakistan-protest-march/696033/10 "2014-09-06T10:09:58Z")
bump again **AK84** are you ok? ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/info-on-pakistan-protest-march/696033/11 "2014-09-06T11:15:13Z")
I am ok thanks. Unfortunately, my grandmother fell ill and then died last week, so I have had little time for following political developments. You probably know more than me now. ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/info-on-pakistan-protest-march/696033/12 "2014-09-06T11:56:50Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > I am ok thanks. Unfortunately, my grandmother fell ill and then died last week, so I have had little time for following political developments. > > You probably know more than me now. Sorry to hear that. Losing my grandmother was really tough on me, so I can identify, FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![nani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58956e/32.png) [@nani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nani)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/info-on-pakistan-protest-march/696033/13 "2014-09-06T12:28:23Z")
My sincere condolences for your loss, AK84.