In transition, Pak set for more turbulence

Pakistan's future will get some sense of clarity as it prepares to be guided by a caretaker government. But, apart from the upcoming polls, more fissures are in store for the distressed country

- TCA Raghavan

Imran Khan's imprisonment and disqualification from electoral politics for five years suggests an end to a phase of Pakistan's internal turmoil. The future direction is now in the hands of a caretaker government, which will administer the next general election some months from now, possibly in early 2024. The chain of events unleashed by the premature termination of Khan's prime ministerial tenure last year saw both enormous domestic turbulence and intensified civil-military contestation amidst a tanking economy and devastating floods. That former Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif, his brother and outgoing PM Shahbaz Sharif, their family, and party (Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz) could become the military's new favourites to run the country, would have appeared bizarre even two years ago. But Pakistan's politics is a constant reshuffle of a deck of cards with the military holding both the ace and the king, making very surprising combinations possible.