Who is Imran Khan?
Even in a region with plenty of colourful political characters, Imran Khan stands out. A tenacious populist politician who won power in Pakistan in 2018 after two decades of trying, Khan’s social conservatism, anti-western stance and religious rhetoric are all the more striking given his backstory.
Born in 1952 and raised in a wealthy family in Lahore, Khan was educated at top schools and the University of Oxford. He gained fame as one of the most prodigiously talented and brave cricketers ever seen, leading his nation to glory as team captain. After retiring from sport, energetic philanthropic work coincided with a religious awakening and led to a nascent political career. Pundits and satirists in the late 1990s did not rate the chances of “Im the Dim” highly, however.
Khan eventually proved the naysayers wrong. Tenacity, luck and a simple populist message that tapped into deep frustration made the former sportsman a genuine contender for power. Khan promised a “new Pakistan” that would be free of corruption, competently run, and no longer beholden to the US or the west. His piety, social conservatism and undoubted personal probity had appeal beyond Pakistan’s mass Islamist organisations. Crucially, Pakistan’s powerful military – the country’s political kingmakers – eventually supported his campaign. After some near misses, Khan’s party – the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf – won elections in 2018.
What happened once he was in power?
Khan has suffered a fate familiar to many predecessors. No prime minister since the foundation of Pakistan in 1948 has served a full five-year term. Unable to find policies that brought relief from Pakistan’s rolling crises – though his handling of the Covid pandemic has been praised – high expectations went unfulfilled. “He wanted to create a new Pakistan, but how? It’s actually very tricky, and falling back on Islam is not answering the question,” said Gareth Price, a South Asia expert at Chatham House in London.
Perhaps more importantly, Khan committed a familiar error by seeking to influence the selection of the next head of Pakistan’s military intelligence service, the infamous ISI. Already wavering, enough top generals saw a threat to their interests for the prime minister to be fatally weakened. An activist opposition that hitherto had been unable to put Khan under pressure saw its opportunity. After weeks of political crisis, he was forced out of office in April this year after a no-confidence vote in parliament.
What’s happening now?
Khan has successfully fought back, becoming “the ultimate symbol of the anti-status quo of Pakistan”, according to the commentator Mosharraf Zaidi.
This may explain why the former prime minister has now been hit with police charges, having questioned the impartiality of the judiciary in his speeches at huge rallies in the heartland of his support. Though Khan is unlikely to be arrested – such a move could lead to problems for the current coalition government – he could still become caught up in court cases leading to his potential disqualification from politics.
“Khan’s messaging is quite sharp and shrill but it’s very difficult under any legal interpretation to argue he could be charged with terrorism … His street power has never been as strong as it is now. The idea may well be to silence him and make it impossible for him to be a political player,” said Michael Kugelman, a South Asia expert at the Wilson Centre, in Washington DC.
What does this mean for Pakistan?
Pakistan is a nuclear-armed state located in one of the most unstable parts of the world. Many South Asian countries have been badly hit by recent global price increases in grain and fuel, but Pakistan is more vulnerable than many others. Deadly floods are causing mayhem in its south-western province; Islamic militant violence is on the rise; it has vast debts, and an IMF bailout looms which could lead to cuts in subsidies that will hurt ordinary people; unemployment is soaring; public services are pitifully inadequate; and relations with India, China, Afghanistan and Iran range from hostile to very complicated.
“Pakistan is in a very tough spot,” Kugelman said, while, according to Price, the last thing the country needs is “petty politics” distracting from real issues.
A decade ago, Khan compared Pakistani politics to “facing six balls from a fast bowler without pads, helmet or gloves”. The analogy remains apt. The former cricketer’s career is far from over.
