In 1992, for the first time in its history, Pakistan’s national cricket team became the world champion. In the hard final match against the British team, (Pakistan’s former Prime Minister) Imran Khan, then the captain of the Pakistani team, made a popular speech, which later became the nickname of the team. "You will fight like the cornered tigers," he said. Thirty years have now passed since Pakistan seemed doomed to lose the world cup prize but ended up winning and Khan is now fighting to show that he is a cornered tiger.

It’s been 75 years since the establishment of Pakistan. However, in all this time no prime minister has completed a five-year term in office, either being overthrown by a coup or dismissed. Khan was no exception to this rule. It’s true that he struggled with corruption. He wasn’t a prime minister with hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign accounts or with luxury mansions in various cities in the world. He, however, couldn’t increase the wealth of his people. He first faced the coronavirus pandemic, and then the global crises. He adopted a foreign policy independent from the U.S. but couldn’t secure balance as his country was indebted to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), China and Saudi Arabia. Despite all, his democratically-given right to govern the country was revoked. How did this happen?

The infamous letter

In a rally on March 27, Khan mentioned a threatening letter sent by the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu to a diplomat in the Pakistan Embassy. The letter, he said, consisted of threats about what he would face if he called off the no-confidence vote. On March 28, in Pakistan’s Parliament, the no-confidence vote against Khan was accepted with 161 yes votes. However, on March 6, it was rejected by the vice president of Parliament. Khan called to dissolve Parliament, a step toward early elections. President Arif Alvi approved it, but the Supreme Court argued the president’s decision for snap elections was illegal and ruled for another no-confidence vote. The limit required in the vote of confidence was exceeded by two votes and Khan and his government were toppled with 174 votes.

As a matter of fact, Khan’s coalition partners were not the only ones that abandoned Khan. There were also some lawmakers from Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, who were convinced – allegedly for money – to vote against Khan, their own party’s president and the country’s prime minister. Indeed, what happened in Pakistan is enough to show how the parliamentary system leads to instability. As a result, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s brother Shahbaz Sharif was declared the new prime minister.

Ankara-Islamabad relations

It’s known that whoever takes the office of prime minister in Pakistan will not follow an anti-Turkey position. For example, it would be unfair to cast a shadow on Nawaz Sharif, who made great efforts to shut down the Gülenist Terror Group’s (FETÖ) schools in Pakistan in the aftermath of the bloody 2016 coup attempt. Also, Turkey is not the country it was five years ago. In its direction amid the multipolar new world order, the status quo in Pakistan is likely to correctly interpret how great powers, including Israel, Saudi Arabia, Russia, the U.S., the United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates (UAE), will open new chapters with Turkey and act accordingly. On its path to taking its rightful place in the world, Pakistan, which is the world’s fifth most populated country, is likely to keep in mind that Turkey is its most sincere partner.