Shehbaz Sharif is taking over as Pakistan's economy is in crisis and former leader Imran Khan’s party has vowed to make it difficult to govern
over the weekend, demonstrated his continuing political pull on Sunday, with tens of thousands of his supporters coming out in towns across Pakistan in anger over his dismissal. No other major party has such passionate support in all corners of the nation.
Mr. Sharif has seen a dramatic turnaround in his circumstances. Under Mr. Khan, he went to jail over corruption allegations, but he was never convicted. He is out on bail in that case, which he says is politically motivated. On Monday, the day he took his oath of office, he had been due to appear before a court hearing. He didn’t go.
While often in democracies it is the economy that determines the fate of governments, for any Pakistani prime minister, the biggest danger comes from their own army. Sooner or later, every Pakistani prime minister has wrestled with the military over the levers of power, and all have lost that tussle. Pakistan has been ruled by military dictators four times. Nowadays, the military prefers to exercise power from behind the scenes.
In the protests by Mr. Khan’s supporters on Sunday, and on social media in recent days, anger has been directed not only at the new government but also, unusually, at army chief, Gen. Qamar Bajwa. On Tuesday, the hashtags #Bajwa_traitor and #BajwaSurrender were among the top trends on Twitter in Pakistan. A crackdown on those posting against the military is under way, say law-enforcement officials, including detentions.
On the foreign policy front, relations with China and Saudi Arabia, two key allies that have provided loans to Pakistan, suffered during Mr. Khan’s rule. His government stalled Beijing’s infrastructure investment program in Pakistan, questioning the value of the projects. “We value our longstanding cooperation with Pakistan, and always view a prosperous and democratic Pakistan as critical to U.S. interests,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Monday. “That remains unchanged, regardless of who the leadership is.”
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