Pakistan’s Army Is Just as Corrupt as the Politicians It Denounces
Despite his removal from office in April, the pseudo-populist Imran Khan is trying to mount a comeback in Pakistan. Khan’s ouster has generated a crisis for the politically powerful Pakistani army and the vast patronage networks it controls.
Pakistan Army chief general Qamar Javed Bajwa stands before the start of the Pakistan Day parade in Islamabad on March 23, 2019. (Farooq Naeem / AFP via Getty Images)
Pakistan is mired in a serious political and economic crisis. The change of government in April this year, with the removal of Imran Khan from his role as prime minister, has not improved economic confidence. The country’s situation may be marginally better than that of its near-neighbor Sri Lanka, but not hugely so. In fact, the ruling elites in both states are guilty of similar recklessness and myopia.
Khan’s ouster was the latest episode in a long saga of intervention by the Pakistani military in the country’s politics. What is novel about the current situation is that the military itself appears to be divided in its attitude toward Khan. This is likely to fuel new cycles of instability in Pakistan.
Imran Khan’s Fightback
Since his ouster, supporters of Khan have caused political chaos, which seems to be rattling both the army leadership and the newly installed coalition government. In July, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) movement won a resounding electoral victory in Punjab, the country’s most populous province, where more than half of all Pakistanis live.
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