In the run-up to Pakistan’s general elections in February, a familiar pattern is repeating itself. Ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan sits in jail with 180 legal cases registered against him. Former three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has returned from exile with the Pakistani military’s backing, despite having been convicted and disqualified from running for office for life just a few years ago. The ground is now being prepared for Sharif’s run as the favored candidate of the establishment (a euphemism for Pakistan’s powerful army).
While this is all par for the course in Pakistan, what is different this time around is the ferocity with which the state has gone after Khan and his political party. After Khan was ousted from power in 2022, he directly confronted the military, which he blamed, along with the United States, for his ouster. That unprecedented confrontation devolved into a zero-sum existential fight that Pakistan’s military is winning. In the process, the country’s democracy has taken hit after hit and there is little hope that the next election will be free or fair, if it is held in February at all, writes Madiha Afzal.
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