Since being ousted from his job as prime minister in a no-confidence vote in April, he has taken to street protests, threatening to bring down the new government
a year, the approaches to Islamabad, Pakistan’s staid, leafy capital, start to resemble a jumbled cargo port. Piles of shipping containers sprout up at motorway junctions on the outskirts of the city and at strategic crossroads inside it. Lines of riot police stand guard. Residents grumble, knowing traffic will get choked, schools will close and getting to work will take twice as long.
The appearance of the barriers, put there by police, signals that the city of 1m is under siege from one of the country’s “long marches”. These are more aptly described as long drives: convoys of protesters travel in cars and minibuses from cities such as Lahore and Peshawar, a few hours away by road. These ritualised displays of street power, in which political parties rally their supporters and lead them towards the capital, are a favourite tactic for anyone trying to rattle the government.
No one is keener on them than Imran Khan , the cricketer-turned-populist who leads his own Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf . Foreign reserves had dwindled to $10bn by May 20th, enough to cover imports for only about six weeks.Only half the $6bn bail-out agreed at the time has been disbursed. Mr Khan, then prime minister, originally agreed to cut subsidies and reform the economy but reduced fuel prices instead. The country is running deficits on both its budget and its current account.
On May 26th Mr Sharif at last seemed to act more decisively. The government announced a cut in fuel subsidies, raising prices by 20%. This won approval from the, which has made the resumption of its loan programme conditional on policies to stabilise the economy. The currency and the stockmarket rallied slightly in response to the move.
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