Explicating The Construal Of Political Image Of Pakistan: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Panama Final Verdict

This study investigates the construal of the political image of Pakistan in the final verdict of Panama Case with the assumption that the substantial linguistic choices construing any discourse provide the way to comprehend the impacts of a specific discourse. The significance of the study lies in the fact that the verdict given by the Supreme Court deals with the case, which is critical in the political sphere of the country and involve people of high stature, therefore, it is worth exploring that how the verdict reflects the political conditions of Pakistan. The data comprises extracts from the verdict. The data has been analyzed using Fairclough’s three dimensional model of Critical Discourse Analysis, to highlight that how discursive strategies have been employed in the verdict to construe and project the political image of Pakistan. The findings of the study demonstrate that linguistic choices made by the judges are portraying the Ex-Prime Minister of Pakistan and his family as corrupt and ‘not Sadiq and Ameen’, and the construal of a person, who held the office of Prime Minister for three times, as corrupt and dishonest man projects the chaotic and unruly political image of Pakistan.