Imran Khan is a former cricketer and the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf translated into “Pakistan Movement for Justice”, which is one of the three major Pakistani political parties. 22 years after the founding of his party, Imran Khan became the leader of Pakistan. However in 2022, he was ousted through a vote of no confidence. He was a newcomer in Pakistani politics and was a hero from his time as a cricket player, presenting himself as a fresh face in the two-party political system of the PPP and the PML-N, who had been ruling the country since Muhamad Khan Junjeo in 1988. Pakistan’s political system has always been turbulent, as no PM has ever completed a full five-year parliamentary tenure. Imran Khan looked as if he was going to be the first PM to do it.
Although never commented on by any of other parties, it is widely believed that he came to power through Pakistan’s army and intelligence service (ISI). He was backed by the military, which has always played a huge role in Pakistani politics. This is not to understate the genuine and large public support he had in Pakistan through his philanthropy and his cricket.
So where did it all go wrong? In 2018, Khan appointed Usman Buzdar, considered by many to be inexperienced and underqualified to be the chief minister of Punjab. Punjab is one of the most populated regions in Pakistan with a population of 27.4 million people, which is around 11% of the population. There is a rumour that his wife told him that his government would collapse if he did not appoint him, but it was never verified. There were other problems with the cost of living and food prices in Pakistan skyrocketing. At this point, the public opinion of Imran Khan had gone down, with supporters blaming COVID and the global condition.
In 2021, it continued to get worse for Khan with his opponents being against the military and the head of the ISI, Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, as they were believed to be responsible for bringing Khan into office. The army was now being publicly blamed for Imran Khan's failing and bringing him in.
However, the most significant factor in his downfall was a conflict between the Military and the ISI between Gen Bajwa, the army chief, and Lt Gen Hameed, who was believed to want to become the army's head, and the two were at odds with each other. So, how does this affect Imran Khan? In October, Gen Bajwa was thought to want someone new in charge of the ISI, but Imran Khan refused. After three weeks of refusal, the Prime Minister finally gave in. The military cut ties with Imran Khan and without their support, the parliament called a vote of no confidence.
Going forward to 2024, he has already received two prison sentences, a ten-year sentence for leaking state secrets, which he described as politically motivated and a seven-year sentence for un-Islamic marriage. Although this is viewed as unacceptable, he still has a very high support with the most recent election with his party believed to have won more seats than any other group.
Written by Gabriel Islam, Year 10