LAHORE: Imran Khan, the cricketer-turned-politician, made a spirited claim to lead the next government when he addressed his supporters in Lahore recently. Khan is the main challenger to the political party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted last year by the Supreme Court after a corruption inquiry. Sharif was barred from holding public office, and he faces a verdict next month on corruption charges.
With Sharif looking at possible jail time, and several leaders of his party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, ensnared in corruption investigations, Khan says his time has come. He presents himself as an alternative to what he calls a corrupt political elite, and says he will work to improve education, health and the environment. His prospects have brightened in light of his warming ties with the military, which controls the main levers of power in Pakistan and has dominated foreign and security policies for decades.
Sharif's efforts to assert civilian control over the military during his last term failed, turning him into an intensely hated figure among the military establishment. Khan, on the other hand, has no qualms about working with the military. "I think a democratic government rules from moral authority," Khan said in an interview. "And if you don't have moral authority, then those who have the physical authority assert themselves. In my opinion, it is the Pakistan army and not an enemy army. I will carry the army with me." In recent months, the army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, has increased his clout, while dissenting voices in the country have come under greater pressure and restrictions on the media have increased.
Hasan Askari Rizvi, an analyst, said Khan's political stock has risen as his relationship with the military has become closer. "Imran has realized that if you want to run Pakistan, you have to work with the military because of the internal and external challenges," Rizvi said. "By fighting with the military, you cannot run the state. I hear all this stuff about how the army is influential in Pakistan. The army depends on one man. Whoever is the army chief, the army policy goes the way of the army chief," Khan said in the interview. Khan then praised Bajwa. "It's the first time that I am seeing an army chief saying time and again that 'I will ensure free and fair elections,' which is the one thing that we want. That's all I want. This is music to our ears."
