Imran Khan’s Arrest and Instability in Pakistan: An Explainer
Former Pakistani Prime Minister, Imran Khan, has been arrested in Islamabad whilst in court after months of a “cat-and-mouse” situation between Khan and law enforcement. There have been multiple attempts to arrest him, such as a raid on his home in March which he successfully evaded. Khan, who entered politics in 1996 and became Prime Minister of Pakistan in 2018 after a prior, very successful, career as an international cricketer for Pakistan, is widely popular in the country, with his arrest sparking violent protests. However, the arrest of political figures is not unusual and Pakistan has been experiencing significant political instability for years, with a struggling economy facing extreme inflation, ongoing tension between parties and the army and the unprecedented challenges since the disastrous floods in Pakistan in 2022, whereby 33 million citizens were affected and more than 10 million people still do not have access to clean water.
Khan was voted out of office on April 10th, 2022 in a no-confidence vote. Since then, his party won the by-election in Punjab province in July 2022 and he remains largely popular with the public. The current government charged Khan under anti-terror laws in August 2022 and disqualified him from running for public office for five years in October 2022. Moreover, on November 3rd, 2022, Imran Khan was shot at in an attempted assassination as he and his Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party were on a campaign rally to force the current government, which replaced him, to hold early elections.
These moves and charges of corruption are rubbished by Khan as politically motivated slander in an attempt to remove opposition for the current 13-member coalition government, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif with different parties such as the Pakistan Muslim League–Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) under the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM). Interestingly, these parties claimed investigations into their actions during Khan’s prime ministership were also politically motivated. Against Khan are charges that his government accepted land as part of a bribe from Mr. Hussain, a Pakistani property tycoon; the land was supposedly given to the Al-Qadir Trust, a trust established by Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi. Khan denies these charges.
Complicating the fractious political environment and explaining the current crisis of the political class is that since Pakistan’s creation in 1947 after the independence of India from the United Kingdom and thus subsequent partition, the country has faced a forceful army that has frequently interfered into political life, straining democratic values and rule of law. As Vice News states: “The army has ruled Pakistan for half the country’s existence, and critics accuse them of still pulling the strings in the country’s politics.” The past five prime ministers have “all been indicted or imprisoned after leaving office,” showcasing a deep toxicity between the army and their intelligence services, and political governance in Pakistan’s democracy. Khan himself blames General Qamar Bajwa for his removal from office, accusing the army of creating multiple plots behind his back whilst in office; the loss of their support which he held in 2018 has been sighted as the reason for his downfall.
Thus, with Khan’s arrest on May 9th, 2023, and further arrests of five members of his party, Pakistan appears to be spiraling further away from democratic stability and into a contested, violent sphere, with people angry at the lack of stability and clarity in their democracy, and the constant inability to achieve stable governance. As of May 11th, 2023, violence has erupted in the key cities of Lahore and Peshawar (key Khan strongholds), which is directed against the army who are seen as untouchable and corrupt. Protestors are setting army personnel’s homes on fire and vehicles are ablaze in streets. Protestors have also stormed the headquarters of Radio Pakistan in Peshawar, setting the building ablaze. So far, eight people have died, over 300 have been injured, and over 1,400 have been detained. The government has also blocked internet access and social media in an attempt to crush the disruption of so-called ‘terrorists.’ The UN has called for calm in Pakistan, but protests remain ongoing.
Looking forward, James Schwemlein writes for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace that:
“The most straightforward way out of this crisis would be to agree to hold elections. Elections could create a relief valve for popular discontent, redirecting animus away from the Pakistani military establishment and back onto civilian politicians…elections could create the political space needed to negotiate a new compact among the politicians and the generals that could restore confidence in Pakistan’s institutions—confidence that is as desirable for Beijing and Riyadh as it is for Washington and London.”
The next few days and weeks will thus be an intriguing, but extremely tense, time as the world waits to see what will unfold in Pakistan. As of May 11th, 2023, Pakistan’s Supreme Court has ruled that his arrest was illegal, and it has ruled for his immediate release.