In November 2022, Pakistan was going through one of the most turbulent periods in recent memory. The economy was suffering from hyperinflation, the government was drowning in debt, former Prime Minister Imran Khan was agitating against the military following his ouster, and a third of the country had been left underwater after catastrophic floods.
This polycrisis was in large part the Pakistani military’s own doing. For over a decade, successive army chiefs had tried through various means to weaken traditional politicians, primarily represented by the Sharif and Bhutto families. Khan, a celebrity former cricket star, and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, were the instruments through which the military achieved its goal, culminating in a rigged election in 2018 that saw Khan become prime minister leading a weak coalition government.
But the military’s bet on Khan had not paid off. From the economy to foreign policy, Khan’s government unleashed a degree of chaos that forced the military to reconsider its wager. While there were some senior officers who still believed Khan was best placed to lead the country, by 2022, the military had had enough: It withdrew its support for Khan, and he was ousted in April of that year through a no-confidence motion in Parliament.