It was hoped that the recent elections in Pakistan would bring stability to the country, much-needed stability to deal with spiraling inflation and bitter political divisions. Instead, no party could secure a clear majority and a coalition government emerged, a shaky and vacillating coalition that appears unsure of its own mandate.
Two weeks after the elections, the Pakistan Muslim League (N) under the leadership of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the Pakistan People's Party under the leadership of Bilawal Bhutto announced the formation of a federal government, but it was also told that the PPP was not part of it. will be made
The announcement (of the alliance) was made at midnight by the leaders of both the parties in a sombre tone and it seemed like a case of a hasty wedding.
Suddenly something happened that Pakistan became that rare democratic country where no one was ready to become the prime minister.
The 'Establishment' has always believed that general elections are too sensitive a matter to be left to politicians. This time he opened his old electoral playbook and used every trick he had successfully used in the past.
Imran Khan, an important figure of Pakistani politics, was put in jail. He faces more than 150 criminal and civil charges, which he denies.
A week before the elections, he was convicted in three cases, one of which was for hasty marriage. His party was deprived of an electoral symbol and a united platform, after which PTI candidates emerged as independents and were forced to contest the elections.
Many Tehreek-e-Insaaf candidates were avoiding police raids instead of campaigning in their constituencies. His political opponents were acquitted of several cases against him in the past and they were given a free environment to run their election campaigns.
Social media and mobile phone services were blocked on election day, ostensibly due to security concerns, but in reality to ensure that Khan's supporters could not easily access the polling booths and vote for their candidates on the ballot paper. Difficult to identify.
But Khan's supporters showed extraordinary ingenuity, created WhatsApp groups, developed apps and websites overnight and managed to find their candidates at the polling booths.
His party used AI-generated speeches to convey the message of its jailed leader to the people. The identification (prisoner) number given to Imran Khan in jail was turned into an election slogan.
He ran a guerilla-style campaign and surprised everyone on election day.
Despite all claims of rigging, his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) emerged as the single largest party in the election. On the election day, Khan's wave of popularity was such that it could not be curbed by the usual rigging.
The establishment used 20th century tactics to control the digital savvy generation, but failed.
To the military's tried tactics, the electorate's response was a polite and defiant, 'Thank you, but we are not as ignorant and illiterate as you think. We may not be able to fight you in the streets, you have guns, but here we have our stamp on the vote. Now do with it what you will.'
Experienced rebel
Imran Khan did not get a simple majority in the parliament, he refused to form an alliance with any other party and decided to sit in the opposition.
He has built up his image and his political campaign by portraying his opponents as corrupt. He appeared loath to share power with politicians whom he had often criticized in his political career.
Most Pakistani politicians have had to spend time in jail at one point or another. But no one enjoyed this thing more than Imran Khan.
With no public platform available to him to reach out to his supporters, he achieved this electoral victory from his jail cell with messages sent by his lawyers and close family members.
When Imran Khan was arrested for the first time since his government was ousted last May, his supporters rioted, attacking army barracks and other symbols of the military's power and prestige. A senior general's house was set on fire and some agitators even managed to enter the army headquarters.
The crackdown that followed was swift and brutal.
Most of the top leadership of PTI was picked up and pressured to part ways with Imran Khan, some condemned his (Imran Khan) politics, some quit politics for life.
The establishment wanted to send a clear signal that Imran Khan and his party were finished. With Khan in jail, as the election approached, the party was taken over by second-tier leadership and local loyalists who were instrumental in organizing the defeated party's winning campaign.
They believed that their leader would not be allowed to return to power, but they showed by their vote that they would not abandon their leader just because the military wanted them to do so. Is.
When Imran Khan was out of power, he became the 'King of Chaos' who unleashed his wrath not only on his political opponents but also on the army establishment.
Before his arrest and walling, Imran Khan claimed in his speeches that he was removed from power at the behest of the United States in return for pursuing an independent foreign policy.
His opponents say that all his policies while in power were based only on his own ego and desires. He says that when he was in power, he spent more time on derailing and punishing his opponents than running the country. While in government, Khan was seen as distracted, failing to take timely decisions to rein in inflation.
Even in the government, he used to raise his voice against his political enemies and the media like an opposition politician.
It is their habit to keep others in trouble.
When his party lost the 2013 elections, he campaigned relentlessly to overturn the results and besieged the capital, Islamabad. They were able to do so with the backing of the establishment. Now that he is enemy number one of the establishment, he is happy after his party's impressive performance in the polls.
His party has decided to sit in the opposition but Imran Khan prefers to do his politics not in parliament but on the streets with the help of public meetings and social media. The current government is already being called a 'coalition of losers', which is actually a coalition of political parties that were soundly defeated by Khan in the elections.
As a result, until two weeks after the election, Khan's opponents showed no enthusiasm to form a government. It happened for the first time that the leading politicians of the country were reluctant to accept the responsibility of power instead of claiming it.
The reluctance to govern is because Pakistan is facing a severe debt crisis and rising fuel and food prices have made life unbearable for the working class. With the increasing role of the military in every sphere of governance, the role of politicians in power is now limited to traveling around the world and getting bailout packages from international institutions.
Many people have also expressed their concerns whether Imran Khan's stay in jail will make him a wiser politician, but this seems unlikely.
He thrives as a maverick, unwilling to transform into a meek version of himself in order to be acceptable to the establishment.
His anger against old politicians has made him the most popular leader of Pakistan. And he will not allow his identity to fade simply because he runs a country that even his defeated opponents are reluctant to run.
It is the perfect environment for Imran Khan to continue his war, even as he is locked up in a cell in Adiala Jail as the country's most famous prisoner number 804.