The meeting was scheduled for the end of the day at a large school, which will remain nameless so as not to expose its principal. The district, located on the outskirts of Karachi, Pakistan's economic capital, was plunged into darkness, due to incessant power cuts resulting from dilapidated infrastructure. A group of students, young Western-looking men and young girls wearing traditional headscarves and dresses, were gathered in a room that was so tightly sealed that no sound was likely to escape.
Muhammad, 22, was seething. His hero, Imran Khan, former national cricket hero, champion of youth and at the height of his popularity, has been languishing in prison since August and will not be eligible to stand in Pakistan's next general election. So the student planned not to vote on February 8, 2024.
"What's the point?" he declared. "The dice are already cast, the establishment has chosen its candidate. Nawaz Sharif will be the next prime minister." He had no good feelings for this man in his 70s, who has already been prime minister three times and is back in the country after four years of voluntary exile in London to avoid serving a prison sentence in a corruption case. Pakistan is in very poor economic and democratic health," continued Muhammad. "I have no hope for my country because you can't fight the establishment. The only one who tried is now behind bars."
In Pakistan, the "establishment" refers to the army, the state within the state that has ruled the country directly or behind the scenes since the republic was created in 1947 after the partition of India. Army Chief of Staff Asim Munir tightened the screws once again in May, following an outbreak of anger directed at military institutions, among other things. This took place during nationwide protests in reaction to the first arrest of Khan. The former prime minister, overthrown in April 2022 following a vote of no-confidence in Parliament, massively mobilized citizens around the idea of a plot by the army chief. He was in disgrace, although he had been the military's favorite in 2018. Never in the past 75 years has a Pakistani prime minister completed his term of office.
Most of the students gathered that November evening were preparing to boycott the ballot in a kind of gesture of disobedience. Muhammad might have been tempted to vote for a local representative in his 30s, Bilawal Bhutto, son of Benazir, the former prime minister assassinated in December 2007 and whose stronghold is in Karachi, capital of Sindh province. The president of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) who was foreign minister in the last government, knows just how important young people are. If he wins, he has promised to give priority to empowering young people.
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