Introduction
The seeds of Pakistan’s 8 February contested elections and the mass protests they have generated were sown well before election day.1 Pakistan has been beset by political turmoil since Imran Khan, who became prime minister in 2018, was ousted as the country’s premier following a “no trust” vote in parliament in April 2022.2 Though he was unseated through a constitutionally approved procedure, Khan claimed that the U.S. had conspired with Pakistan’s top military leaders and his rivals in the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party to overthrow his government. Fed a steady diet of conspiracy theories, his enraged supporters attacked military properties and installations in several cities following Khan’s arrest on corruption charges on 9 May 2023, including the residence of the army corps commander in Lahore.
Led by Pakistan’s military, the crackdown that followed has resulted in scores of leading figures in Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party quitting the movement or suffering arrest, along with hundreds of supporters, mainly on charges related to the 9 May 2023 unrest. As the country’s principal powerbroker, the military establishment has played a crucial role in tilting the electoral playing field, first in Khan’s favour and lately against him. His victory in the 2018 polls came after then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s relations with military high command soured, leading to his conviction on corruption charges and a ban on standing in those elections.3 Khan’s attempts to influence top military appointments, including that of the incoming army chief, nevertheless placed him at the receiving end of the military’s ire. Sharif, for his part, came home from years in exile in 2023 to lead his party’s election campaign after being exonerated by the courts.
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