Nawaz Sharif resigns

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-40750671

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Not that he had any choice, being disqualified from holding office.

[Santander]

Hilarious that it all started with Calibri font. Talk about sans Sharif.

[Blue3]

Not that he had any choice, being disqualified from holding office.

Not true, Pakistan has a long history of coups.

[Kingpoleon]

His potential successors may be better. Ideally, I'd like to see a former member of the PPP and current member of the PTI or PML-Q, such as Shah Mehmood Qureshi(PTI).

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Not that he had any choice, being disqualified from holding office.

Not true, Pakistan has a long history of coups.

Yeah, but the military intervening to keep Sharif in power would be a very odd twist, to put it mildly.

[Kingpoleon]

Does nobody besides me care who succeeds Sharif?

[Zioneer]

Does nobody besides me care who succeeds Sharif?

I care, I just have about the same amount of knowledge of Pakistani politics as I have knowledge of living on Venus. None.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I'm not sure if I can size up Shehbaz Sharif yet.

[pikachu]

His potential successors may be better. Ideally, I'd like to see a former member of the PPP and current member of the PTI or PML-Q, such as Shah Mehmood Qureshi(PTI).

Is there really any reason to think that they'd be any better, especially considering the history of the country and its political leadership? Not that I know much, if anything about Pakistani politics and potential successors, but some quick searches seem to indicate that PTI is an Imran Khan personality cult, the PML-Q is a militarist party with no saving graces other than hating Nawaz Sharif, and the PPP is just corruption running relying on a rural Sindhi vote bank.

Basically, every option sucks, and the only worthwhile preference imo is 'not a coup' (and that being said, the military is more powerful than the civilian government anyway).

[Kingpoleon]

His potential successors may be better. Ideally, I'd like to see a former member of the PPP and current member of the PTI or PML-Q, such as Shah Mehmood Qureshi(PTI).

Is there really any reason to think that they'd be any better, especially considering the history of the country and its political leadership? Not that I know much, if anything about Pakistani politics and potential successors, but some quick searches seem to indicate that PTI is an Imran Khan personality cult, the PML-Q is a militarist party with no saving graces other than hating Nawaz Sharif, and the PPP is just corruption running relying on a rural Sindhi vote bank.

Basically, every option sucks, and the only worthwhile preference imo is 'not the military'.

Unfortunately, pro-militarism and "personality cults" are the best option in a country like Pakistan.

[pikachu]

His potential successors may be better. Ideally, I'd like to see a former member of the PPP and current member of the PTI or PML-Q, such as Shah Mehmood Qureshi(PTI).

Is there really any reason to think that they'd be any better, especially considering the history of the country and its political leadership? Not that I know much, if anything about Pakistani politics and potential successors, but some quick searches seem to indicate that PTI is an Imran Khan personality cult, the PML-Q is a militarist party with no saving graces other than hating Nawaz Sharif, and the PPP is just corruption running relying on a rural Sindhi vote bank.

Basically, every option sucks, and the only worthwhile preference imo is 'not the military'.

Unfortunately, pro-militarism and "personality cults" are the best option in a country like Pakistan.

I struggle to see how either represents a better option than Nawaz Sharif? I mean, I guess I can see the appeal in Imran Khan for not being dynastic, but it's more likely than not he's going to be incompetent and corrupt, and PTE's done an unexceptional job in the one province they do govern. Beyond that, I can't see which will cause Pakistan's civic institutions to erode the fastest a better option compared to any of the mainstream parties (which tbf will do the same thing, but I get the impression they like elections and democracy a little bit more?)

[Santander]

Imran bhai's appeal is not merely that he's not a dynastic politician - he is Pakistan's most beloved hero who delivered them the Cricket World Cup in 1992 and set up the biggest cancer hospital in the country.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

I think Imran Khan has every chance of being a disaster owned by the military (indeed Sharif's only saving grace is that he's always at loggerheads with the military dipsticks - the military is basically the key reason Pakistan has been a basketcase for decades now), but tbh if I was Pakistani I would probably cheerlead for him over the Sharif-fest in PML (N) and the mini-Bhutto that runs PPP at the moment. Also, why the hell are talking about PML (Q)? Aren't they basically dead at this point?

By the way, did anybody take notice of the crazy infighting in MQM (i.e. Possibly the most criminall of all Pakistani parties) earlier this year?

[Lexii, harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy]

Not that he had any choice, being disqualified from holding office.

Fujimori disagrees

[Simfan34]

Isn't Khan basically in bed with Islamists at this point?