An Unfinished Innings

 In a country deeply divided along political, religious and economic lines, Imran Khan’s leadership has been bowled out by the country’s long-standing political elite - Reem Khan reports on the implications

 Imran Khan is a man of many lives – legendary cricketing captain, philanthropist, infamous playboy turned Islamist politician and, now, the first ever Prime Minister of Pakistan ousted by a Parliamentary vote of no-confidence in a country wracked by political turmoil, military coups and corruption perpetuated by the ruling elite.

It was the promise of an end to endemic corruption that brought Imran Khan into power in a landslide victory in 2018. And it may have proved to be his undoing before the end of his constitutional term.

Famously admitting to being a man who cannot tolerate defeat, Imran Khan attempted to cling onto his premiership in a coughing and spluttering spectacle of conspiracies and constitutional violations.

Within a week he was gone, and his successor, three times former Chief Minister of Pakistan’s most populous and richest province, Punjab, and brother of a three-time former Prime Minister, Shahbaz Sharif, has taken the helm in what is once again a dynastic political leadership.

Khan has returned to the opposition benches and has vowed to come back stronger than ever before.

Night market in Faisalabad, Pakistan/ photo Adam Cohen

But how did this all happen? From being the poster boy for change, an alternative name in a political arena dominated by two major dynasties and a military known for overriding democratic norms, why then this devastating fall from grace?  

Despite boisterous sermons committed to ending nepotism and corruption during his election rallies, as soon as he became the premier, Khan’s inner circle was saturated with entrenched political allies, players who had held important portfolios during the terms of his predecessors – the very people Imran Khan had vowed to bring to book.

Whilst Khan was unable to fulfill his election campaign promises to bring back the “looted” billions he had accused previous leaders from the Shariff and Bhutto dynasties of syphoning out of Pakistan, his economic mismanagement threw the country into grievous financial crisis.

Whilst Pakistan’s most powerful institution, its army, has distanced itself from this latest bout of political turmoil, it is still regarded as having a mighty hand to play.

Khan raised the ire of the army by blocking the appointment of a new Intelligence Chief late last year.

He also started to digress on foreign policy, particularly in relation to China and Russia. The Pakistan army does not take kindly to being overridden in matters of foreign policy.   

Without what many saw as military support and an economic crisis that made Pakistan the fourth worst inflation hit country in the world, the stage was set for a bout of ‘horse-trading’ whereby elected lawmakers and coalition members were allegedly bought by the opposition to push through a vote of no-confidence against Khan.

This opposition was led by the PML-N, the national centre-right party of the Sharif family, and the PPP, the centre-left party of the Bhutto dynasty. It seemed that Imran Khan’s vision of new Pakistan had failed.

With the odds stacked fiercely against him, Khan went down the conspiracy route by accusing the United States of backing regime change because he had visited Russia on the eve of its Ukraine invasion.

Washington, and Pakistan’s army both reject this claim.

When that didn’t work, Khan dissolved Pakistan’s national assembly on the day the no-confidence vote was to take place, stating that early elections would determine the future course of the country.

This unprecedented move bolstered the opposition to challenge Khan in the Supreme Court. The higher court overturned Khan’s dismissal of the assemblies and the vote of no-confidence went ahead less than a week later, on April 9, with a majority vote in favour of the opposition.

Boarding a bus in Lahore, Pakistan's second city / photo Adam Cohen

A Molotov concoction of Khan’s miscalculations can be blamed for his speedy removal: a fractured economic policy, his perceived arrogance, defectors from his own party and allies, nipping at the military hand that many believed once fed him, an opposition just waiting in the wings and the country’s Supreme Court, all seem to have clean bowled a man many saw as a messiah in Pakistani politics. 

 Khan’s mantra of there being a ‘new Pakistan’ in the wings, has been replaced by the Pakistan of old.

Shahbaz Sharif, lacks the charisma that has seen Khan rally an almost cult-like following in the urban centres of the country.

As a politician out on bail in a money laundering case, Sharif will have much to prove in efforts to drown out the din created by Khan and his vows to hold corrupt political leaders to account.

Sharif will need to establish economic and political stability, bringing onboard a coalition of discordant political parties who will be his rivals in the next elections, slated for October 2023.

Even if the only thing keeping them together for now will be the opposition of a hugely belligerent Imran Khan, it may be what Sharif needs to start working on fiscal deficits, record high debt and inflation, a plummeting currency and depleted foreign exchange reserves.

Khan has already started hosting political rallies in large urban centres, calling on his voters to decimate the political leadership with confrontational calls for early elections.

He will continue to bandy about his theory of a US-led conspiracy and will appeal to the nationalist / Islamic voter base to secure his popularity in a country deeply divided along religious and sectarian lines.

His followers number in the many millions, drawn to his magnetism, charm and even his ‘good looks’, referring to him as the ‘handsome PM’.

The ruling coalition has its work cut out for it in the days and weeks ahead. As does Imran Khan.

It is now a matter of the old Pakistan, versus a new one not yet born.

But in many ways, it is still just more of the same.

- Asia Media Centre