Imran Khan’s popularity has been unprecedented in Pakistan’s recent history, and no politician has enjoyed so much public adulation, perhaps since the emergence of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in the 1960s
By Sameer Arshad Khatlani
In October 2022, Pakistan’s Election Commission found former Prime Minister Imran Khan guilty of illegally selling gifts from foreign dignitaries and barred him from holding public office. The ruling came days after he won six of eight parliament seats in a by-election he described as a referendum on his popularity.
Khan’s government was toppled months earlier in April 2022 through a parliamentary vote after he fell out with the military. In May 2023, Khan’s arrest sparked protests against the military, triggering a sweeping crackdown on his party. Imran Khan’s popularity has endured despite his incarceration since. It has been unprecedented in Pakistan’s recent history. No politician has enjoyed so much public adulation, perhaps since Zulfikar Ali Bhutto‘s emergence in the 1960s. It soared after his ouster.
Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf swept by-polls after his ouster, even as almost all political parties joined hands to remove him from power and contested the elections jointly. Khan, whose politics centered around ridding the country of corrupt dynastic politics, emerged stronger in the 2024 polls when his candidates emerged as the single-largest bloc in Parliament despite the crackdown on his party and restrictions on campaigning. A broad coalition was cobbled together to keep them out of power.
Imran Khan’s Popular Appeal vs the Dynastic Status Quo
Before his arrest, Khan pressed for snap polls and kept up the momentum by addressing packed rallies across the country. He maintained a 14-party coalition government of conservatives, secularists, centrists, and Leftists was installed to replace him at the behest of the United States (US) as he threatened to upend the corrupt system.
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The narrative overshadowed Imran Khan’s misgovernance and flaws. Khan, a national hero and World Cup-winning captain considered Pakistan’s greatest cricketer ever, is seen as a clean politician who has built charitable hospitals and a university, unlike the traditional politicians perceived to have looted the country and stashed their ill-gotten money abroad. The coalescing of the political parties to oust Khan was a desperate attempt by the traditional dynastic politicians to protect the status quo under which power has remained with two families over the last three decades.
Shehbaz Sharif replaced Imran Khan as the Prime Minister only because his brother, three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and his daughter, Maryam, were then ineligible for the top post because of their graft conviction. His government suffered a credibility crisis as Nawaz Sharif was accused of remote controlling it. The elder Sharif returned to Pakistan from London after Khan’s removal from power. He was allowed to go to London for treatment on the condition that he would come back to serve his remaining prison term.
Nawaz Sharif’s Control Trumps Economic Recovery
Shehbaz Sharif, who too faced serious graft charges, and his Cabinet colleagues frequently visited London to consult with Nawaz Sharif. Key members of the Cabinet were in London as Pakistan grappled with issues such as price rise and a faltering economy. The dire situation was accentuated when floods hit the country in August 2022. One-third of Pakistan was submerged, over 1,400 people were killed, and 33 million were displaced.
The deluge coincided with a widening current account balance and depleting hard currency. It was projected to cost $30 billion or 9% of Pakistan’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In the middle of the crisis, the Sharifs chose to replace finance minister Mifta Ismail, a Wharton School-trained economist, with Ishaq Dar, a close family member, and a chartered accountant, after managing to ensure his return to Pakistan.
Dar fled the country and was declared a proclaimed offender over corruption charges in 2017. He sought asylum in the UK after his passport was cancelled. Top Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and government positions have remained with the Sharfs since military ruler Zia-ul-Haq handpicked Nawaz Sharif as a provincial minister in the 1980s.
The Sharif-Zardari Nexus
Nawaz Sharif handed over the reins of power to his brother in Pakistan’s biggest province of Punjab when he became the prime minister after serving as the provincial chief minister. He also handed over the control of his party to Shehbaz Sharif following his disqualification from holding public office over luxury flats the family owns in London. The flats have been alleged to have been bought through illegally obtained money through offshore holdings.
Before Imran Khan’s party managed to wrest power from the Sharifs in Punjab, Shehbaz Sharif’s son, Hamza, briefly headed the provincial government this year. Hamza, who also faced corruption allegations, was in charge of the party in Punjab, and Maryam, widely seen as the heir to Nawaz Sharif, was in national politics before she became the chief minister.
Pakistan’s politics has over the last three decades been all about dynasties with little commitment to ideology. It has mostly been the means to the end of making money. Asif Ali Zardari exemplifies the rot in Pakistan’s politics as much as the Sharifs. The one-time archrivals joined hands with 12 other parties to oust Imran Khan. The coalition has parties of almost all hues and even those who have been accused of being foreign-funded for orchestrating unrest in Pakistan. It includes bearded maulanas as well as those who swear by liberalism.
Desperation to Stop Imran Khan
Zardari is seen as the main force behind the coalition, which was stitched together for his survival and to ensure the continuation of the status quo. He, too, has faced allegations of possessing offshore assets, murder, corruption, and smuggling. After his wife, Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, Zardari took over the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) based on a will she left nominating him as the party chief until their son, Bilawal, was old enough to assume the role. Bilawal, who was 19 then. Zardari, a two-time president nicknamed ‘Mr 10%’ for the commissions he allegedly charged when Bhutto was the Prime Minister, hopes to see his son as the third Prime Minister from the family.
Political opponents of Imran Khan were desperate to remove him from power to continue with business as usual. The removal ended up making him more popular. His supporters see Khan’s disqualification as another attempt to prevent Khan from overturning the political status quo. This could make things for Khan’s opponents worse.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is also the only pan-Pakistan party. Khan’s victory in elections in three of Pakistan’s four provinces underlined this again. His party also rules one of the provinces. The two other major parties of the Sharifs and Zardari are confined to Punjab and Sindh. Khan has shown the ability to rally people across Pakistan to bring the government to its knees. The 2024 election confirmed Khan’s popularity after taking on the country’s military for conspiring to topple his government, highlighting his confidence thanks to his support base, and how he may be down but not out.
Khatlani is a journalist and an author
