Pakistan is no stranger to military strongmen. Since its creation in 1947, the country had been under off and on direct military rule for over 33 years. Gen. Ayub Khan seized power in 1958, and remained at the helm for 11 years. He was followed by Gen. Yahya Khan. After Yahya’s fall, the country entered a brief period of democratic experiment until Gen. Zia-ul-Haq staged another coup in 1977. Pakistan’s last military takeover came in 1999, when Gen. Pervez Musharraf toppled Nawaz Sharif’s elected government. When Musharraf was eventually forced out amid nationwide protests in 2008, Pakistan clawed its way back to civilian rule, even though the military continued to be the markhor in the room. Successive governments were careful not to antagonise the establishment.
Imran Khan’s rise in 2018 as an outsider promising to challenge the entrenched political elite, particularly the Pakistan Muslim League-N of Nawaz Sharif, initially made him the generals’ blue-eyed boy. But by the time he lost power in 2022, he had fallen out of favour with the military.
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