Cricket veteran Imran Khan has resigned as Prime Minister of Pakistan following a no-confidence vote that passed by a mere 2-vote majority in parliament, ending his 4-year reign. The no-confidence vote comes amid increasing inflation and high tensions in parliament, with many fearing military brass were contemplating a coup.
Khan’s Pakistan Movement for Justice ruling party is expected to be replaced by the pro-oligarchy Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), led by former minister Shehbaz Sharif. Sharif was arrested on money laundering charges in 2020 and leads what some perceive to be the most corrupt bloc of the Pakistani government.
From an internationalist perspective, Khan’s legacy is the Baloch genocide, selling northern Kashmir to the Chinese state, closer alignment with genocidal powers such as the Saudi and Turkish states, and rampant corruption preventing meaningful change in Pakistani civil society.
However, Khan’s legacy is also the introduction of the Billion Tree Tsunami project, a reforestation push in northern Pakistan providing livelihoods to millions of workers impacted by the pandemic, improving many of Pakistan’s social services, creating a range of safety nets, and a pretty effective pandemic response.
Love him or hate him, Khan has fallen, and the Pakistani government remains in a spiral of corruption abused by foreign powers. Khan’s ouster also continues the nation’s unfortunate trend of incomplete premierships: no Pakistani PM has completed their term in the country’s 75-year history.
