The premiership of Imran Khan began when Imran Khan became the 22nd prime minister of Pakistan on 17 August 2018, following his oath of office ceremony, which came after his party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf secured a victory in the 2018 Pakistani election. His campaign in the elections primarily focused on anti-corruption and populism.
Imran Khan was sworn-in as the Prime Minister of Pakistan on 18 August 2018 at the Aiwan-e-Sadr in Islamabad.[1] His cabinet consisted of sixteen ministers and five advisors. He kept portfolio of interior ministry to himself.[2] In his celebration speech before swearing in and the inaugural speech after swearing-in he mentioned that he will build and run Pakistan on principles of first Islamic state of Medina.[3][4]
When he took office, he presented a 100-day plan to quickly reform the country in a short period of time. He made significant changes to the country's bureaucracy and military with several key appointments. Khan's cabinet included many Musharraf-era ministers and former members of the Pakistan People's Party. His government undertook major cabinet reorganizations and faced financial challenges that led to an IMF bailout and the implementation of austerity measures. By 2020, Pakistan's balance of payments improved, fiscal deficit narrowed and tax collections had reached record levels.
Khan's foreign policy tried to make Pakistan a respected player on the international stage. He emphasized the unity of Muslims in his efforts against Islamophobia and his leadership in the OIC. Khan and his close foreign minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, established good relations with Saudi Arabia, although he announced that he would seek to mediate between Iran and Saudi Arabia in their proxy conflict. Khan maintained a firm stance on the Kashmir issue and refused to negotiate with India until autonomy was restored in Indian-administered Kashmir. Khan also criticized the US drone campaign in Pakistan and said the Taliban-led Afghan government should be recognized and not isolated.
Domestically, Khan's government launched an anti-corruption campaign and improved security. His administration restored minority religious sites. In social policy, he reformed education, improved health care and expanded large welfare programs, the most notable of which were the Ehsaas Programme and Sehat Sahulat Program. His government passed the Zainab Alert Bill as an attempt to increase the rights and safety of women in Pakistan. His environmental initiatives, mainly Plant for Pakistan, increased renewable energy and attempted extensive reforestation of Pakistan. Khan has been criticized for certain comments and practices, even as he has been praised for handling the COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan, launching a massive welfare program and reviving the economy greatly.
He was removed from office in March 2022 following a no-confidence motion against his government, in which many of his coalition partners left his government, resulting in his removal as the first Pakistani prime minister to be removed by a no-confidence motion. Despite his tenure lasting three and a half years, his premiership saw important reforms in many areas, supporting domestic policies of welfare, an active foreign policy stance on many global issues, and key steps against corruption.
Formerly, a cricket player, Khan started his campaign for premiership in 1996 with launch of a political party called Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.[5][6] His party did not have much of a success in 1997 Pakistani general election and 2002 Pakistani general election.[7] He boycotted 2008 Pakistani general election.[8] His first major victory came in 2013 Pakistani general election when his party won an outright majority in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa forming a coalition government in the province and became second largest party nationally by popular vote.[9]
In May 2018, Khan's party announced a 100 day agenda for a possible future government. The agenda included sweeping reforms in almost all areas of government including creation of a new province in Southern Punjab, fast tracking of merger of Federally Administered Tribal Areas into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, betterment of law and order situation in Karachi, and betterment of relations with Baloch political leaders.[10][11][12]Similar measures were announced in his inaugural speech. In addition to the measures announced in 100 day agenda, Khan announced some groundbreaking austerity measures where he vowed to reduce the staff and number of luxury vehicles of prime minister house to two employees and two vehicles respectively from current number of hundreds.[13][3]
On 17 August 2018, Khan secured 176 votes and became the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan and took the oath of office on 18 August 2018.[14][15] Khan ordered top-level reshuffling in the country's bureaucracy, including the appointment of Sohail Mahmood as Foreign Secretary, Rizwan Ahmed as Maritime Secretary, and Naveed Kamran Baloch as Finance Secretary.[16][17] His first major appointment in the Pakistan Army was that of Lieutenant General Asim Munir to the key slot of Director-General of Inter-Services Intelligence.[18]
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Khan announced his cabinet soon after taking oath, choosing to keep the Ministry of Interior to himself.[19] Though he later appointed Ijaz Ahmed Shah as interior minister.[20] Many of his appointees were previously ministers during Musharraf era, although some were defectors from the left-wing People's Party.[21][22] In 2019, Khan committed to a major cabinet reshuffle in the ministries of interior, finance, information and planning.[23]
Khan stated that, despite the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Pakistan must prioritize good relations with Saudi Arabia due to an economic crisis. He also added that U.S. sanctions against Iran are affecting neighboring Pakistan, stating "The last thing the Muslim World needs is another conflict. The Trump administration is moving towards that direction."[24] Khan prioritised close ties with China,[25] saying he "did not know" much about concentration camps for China's Muslims,[26] though Khan confirmed he had raised the matter "privately" in discussions with China.[27]
Khan was named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2019, in the section "Leaders".[28]
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In domestic economic policy, Khan inherited a twin balance of payments and debt crisis with a large current account deficit and fiscal deficit in 2018, Khan's government sought a bailout from the IMF.[30] In exchange for the bailout, Khan's government slashed subsidy spending in the energy sector and unveiled an austerity budget to curb the fiscal deficit and limit government borrowing.[31] The IMF also demanded that the Pakistani government depreciate the rupee and improve tax collection. Khan's government decided to raise import tariffs to collect higher tax revenues and devalued the currency, this alongside the heavy import duty helped to curtail the current account deficit (import substitution).[32]
Pakistan's overall balance of payment's position improved significantly following record-high remittances in 2020, which stabilised the central bank's foreign exchange reserves.[33] The fiscal deficit narrowed to less than 1% of GDP by 2020 due to the government's austerity policies,[34] and the rate of debt accumulation had significantly slowed. At the same time, Pakistan's debt remained high due to the high borrowing of previous governments in which the current government had to allocate $24 billion to pay off loans taken during the tenure of previous governments.[35][36][37]
Aside from IMF-mandated reforms, Khan's government introduced policies to improve the business operating climate. As a result, Pakistan climbed 28 places higher on the World Bank's ease of doing business index. Pakistan ranked amongst the top 10 most improved countries in 2019.[38] Pakistan's tax collection also hit record highs in 2019.[39] As the government raised more revenue from domestic taxes with no increase in tax revenue from import taxes (given import compression had lowered the quantity being imported so the government collected less tax revenue from imports). This trend continued into 2020, albeit at a slower pace.[40]
The fiscal deficit was also controlled to less than 1% of GDP in the second half of 2020, Pakistan recorded a primary surplus (excluding interest payment and principal repayment of previous debt), but was in deficit once the interest payment on debt was accounted for, albeit the deficit was smaller. Economists primarily pinned this reduction in the fiscal deficit on an increase in non-tax revenues rather than an increase in tax revenues. For example, from the higher prices, consumers paid for oil from state-owned oil companies.[34] Nevertheless, tax revenues also went on an upward trajectory with Pakistan's tax agency (FBR) both exceeding its tax collection target and collecting a record amount for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2021 in the calendar year 2020.[41][42] In economic policy with respect to international trade, from January 2020 Khan's government implemented the second phase of the China–Pakistan Free Trade Agreement these renegotiations with China led to concessionary rates by China on Pakistani exports of goods and services to mainland China such as reduced tariffs or zero tariffs.[43] The negotiations were termed a "significant milestone" in the country's foreign policy by expanding trade relations in a relationship traditionally dominated by defence and security matters.[44]
In June 2018 (before Khan became Prime Minister), the FATF placed Pakistan onto its grey list and demanded a series of actions be taken by Pakistan to remedy terror financing laws. Khan's government had initially used constitutional provisions of Presidential power held by Arif Alvi to issue ordinances (temporary legislation via Presidential decree)[45] and the country became compliant with 14 points on the FATF agenda.[46] Subsequently, a series of bills were presented in Pakistan's Parliament to ensure the legislation would permanently remain in place beyond a temporary Presidential decree. Minor parts of the legislation passed both the lower house and upper house of Pakistan's parliament with the support of Khan's ruling coalition and part of the opposition parties too.[47] The opposition-dominated Senate did not pass a significant portion of the FATF bills and walked out on crucial moments, creating hurdles for Khan's government.[48][49][50]
Subsequently, Khan summoned a joint session of both upper and lower house of parliament in which the bills passed given the government held a majority and without the support of the opposition.[51] By October 2020, Pakistan became successfully compliant on 21 out of 27 points on the FATF agenda, an increase from the 14 points in February 2020, with the remaining 6 points outstanding reviewed in February 2021.[52] In FATF's February 2021 review, Khan's government had successfully implemented about 90% of the FATF agenda with 24 out of 27 points 'largely addressed' and the remaining 3 out of 27 points 'partially addressed'.[53] The FATF President remarked that as Pakistan was progressing with its action plan so it "is not the time to put a country on the blacklist".[54][55]
In FATF's June 2021 review, the Khan government implemented more progress, the FATF found that Pakistan has now largely addressed 26 out of the 27 action items, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price praised Pakistan's progress but encouraged Pakistan to tackle its remaining action item saying: "We do recognise and we support Pakistan's continued efforts to satisfy those (first action plan) obligations. Pakistan has made significant progress on its first action plan with 26 of 27 action items largely addressed — We encourage Pakistan to continue working with the FATF and the international community to swiftly complete the remaining action item by demonstrating that terrorism financing, investigations and prosecutions target senior leaders and commanders of UN-designated groups."[56][57] On 8 April 2022, the Khan government made progress on its remaining action plan by sentencing Hafiz Saeed a mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks and a UN-designated terrorist to 31 years in prison.[58] Due to the efforts of Hammad Azhar, Pakistan eventually made it out of the FATF greylist in October 2022.[59]
In national security policy, Khan's government presided over an improved overall security climate[60] with foreign investors expressing greater confidence in the security of their investments in Pakistan.[61] On 5 March 2019, the Khan government formally banned the Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud-Dawa and its affiliate Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation under the Anti Terrorism Act 1997.[62] On 25 June 2020, Khan came under criticism, both in the international press and from the domestic opposition, for calling al-Qaeda founder and 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden a martyr.[63][64] On a previous occasion during a local television interview, he had refused to call bin Laden a terrorist.[65]
In October 2020, Khan spoke out about what he considered growing extremism and violence against Muslims across the world. In a letter posted on Twitter, he urged Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg to ban Islamophobic content on its platform.[66] In July 2021, the Project Pegasus revealed a spyware surveillance list that included at least one number once used by Khan.[67]
In 2019, Pakistan arrested Hafiz Saeed, a mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and also a UN-designated terrorist. On 8 April 2022, he was sentenced to 31 years in prison.[68]
In social policy, Khan's government has taken steps to restore religious sites belonging to religious minorities;[69] this included the Kartarpur Corridor.[70] Khan's government took a significantly different position on the policy of minorities than the main opposition party, the PML-N, who had opposed the building of the corridor for Indian pilgrims.[71] Khan's government also instituted reforms to education and healthcare on a national and regional level, respectively.[72][73][74]
Khan's government introduced reforms to Pakistan's social safety net and the system of welfare in Pakistan more broadly.[75][76][77] This included broadening welfare payments which was initially for widows only, to include the disabled as well as provide health insurance coverage.[78] In June 2021, Khan explained a surge of publicly known rape cases in Pakistan with what he called "common sense", namely that women who wear "very few clothes" will "have an impact on the men unless they are robots". His comments lead to outrage by female rights activists.[79]
Khan pushed for an increase in renewable energy production,[80] and also halted coal power from future construction,[81] working toward an aim to make Pakistan mostly renewable by 2030.[82] In 2020, Khan's government commenced building work for the Diamer-Bhasha Dam, as part of his government's investment in renewable energy projects.[83] The World Bank loaned Pakistan $450mn for investment in renewable energy projects as part of the government's stated aim of making Pakistan a renewable-energy reliant economy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change.[84]
The government introduced an electric vehicle (EV) policy,[85][86] the first in South Asia.[87][88] Further efforts to combat climate change consisted of re-foresting Pakistan with over 10 billion trees under the Plant for Pakistan project[89][90] with the government on course to plant 3.3 billion trees in the first three and a half years of Khan's government, the reforestation programme includes an agreement with the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and others to independently monitor the projects in order to maintain transparency about funding.[91] Khan also expanded national parks under a protected areas initiative.[92]
Khan's government introduced reforms to Pakistan's bloated public sector.[93][94] The public sector consisted of state-owned enterprises that were consistently making losses and accumulating debt for decades, including national services such as railways, airlines, postal services as well as other state-owned companies such as Pakistan's state-owned steel company. In 2019, Pakistan International Airlines reached breakeven in operating profit;[95] however, the halt in air travel in the following year due to COVID-19 meant further reforms had to be made. This led to a proposal to cut the airline's workforce almost by half in order to save costs and thus help the state-owned airline breakeven on a net profit level in addition to the operating profit level.[96] The national airline confirmed it would layoff employees in phases[97] as part of PIA's restructuring plan in line with the government's policy of reversing the losses at state-owned companies.[98] Khan's government is set to axe many PIA workers due to the fact that those appointments were politically motivated to reward loyalty to previous governments.[99][100]
In 2019, Khan's government launched an anti-corruption campaign,[101] which was premised on the basis that no amnesty (known as NRO or National Reconciliation Ordinance in Pakistani political parlance) would be given to politicians or relatives who benefitted from a politician's patronage. The campaign has been criticised for targeting Khan's political opponents.[102] Nevertheless, Khan's supporters argue that the campaign is genuine, as senior members of Khan's own ruling party, including Jahangir Khan Tareen and Aleem Khan, have faced investigation or prosecution,[103][104] with Khan going as far as rejecting the formation of a "judicial commission" demanded by supporters of Tareen.[105]
Under Khan's premiership, the performance of Pakistan's anti-corruption agency, the National Accountability Bureau improved significantly[106] when measured in terms of recovery of money in cases involving plea bargains and/or convictions.[107] The recovery of the anti-corruption agency had risen to Rs. 487 billion over three years from the start of 2018 to the beginning of 2021.[108] This recovery was significantly higher than the anti-corruption agency's 10-year performance from 2008 to 2018 prior to Khan's government taking office.[109][110]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Khan's government rolled out the largest welfare programme in Pakistan's history, with a fund of almost $1 billion aimed at the country's poorest segment of the population.[111] The PM's advisor Dr. Sania Nishtar confirmed that the programme would use pre-existing data of other welfare programmes under 'Ehsaas' system and the much smaller Benazir Income Support Programme which provided a more limited safety-net, while the Ehsaas programme targeted lower-income households more broadly.[112] Following a drop in COVID-19 cases, declining positivity rates, and falling hospitalisations, Khan's government lifted lockdown restrictions.[113] In a Gallup survey released in 2021, 7 out of 10 (or roughly 70%) of Pakistanis had a favourable view of the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.[114] Economically, a V-shaped recovery was observed in both business confidence and expected employment index.[115] The current account was in surplus for 3 out of 4 months after June 2020 although this was due to higher remittances (which tend to be volatile) offsetting decrease in exports.[116] Fiscal prudence meant Pakistan's debt-to-GDP ratio remained broadly unchanged in 2021 according to the IMF, Pakistan defied the trend of rising debt, as most emerging/developing economies had witnessed a substantial rise in the debt-to-GDP ratio in order to deal with the pandemic with other developing countries seeing a 10% rise in debt-to-GDP on average.[117] Furthermore, credit rating agency Fitch forecasted a fall in Pakistan's public debt to GDP ratio, reflecting lower debt incurred by the incumbent government and higher GDP growth in 2021.[118]
In economic policy, Khan's government presided over a recovery in Pakistan's textile sector, with demand measured by the number of orders pending hitting historic highs. Khan's government facilitated the textile sector by offering concessionary rates on utilities such as electricity as well as reducing the electricity tariff during peak hours.[119][120] Furthermore, the Asian Development Bank stated that it sees an "economic recovery" in Pakistan.[121][122] Signs of recovery emerged as exports reached pre-COVID-19 levels towards the end of 2020.[123] Following the recovery in the textile sector, export growth was almost in double-digits by February 2021, with a 9% growth in exports – especially value-added textile exports.[124] In early 2021, Pakistan's apparel exports to the US had surged upwards in value and volume outperforming India and Bangladesh, both of which are the nearest regional economies similar to Pakistan's in South Asia. Khan's government facilitated the textile sector by removing all import tariffs on cotton yarn, in order to address a shortfall in the main raw material input of textiles and apparel.[125] This policy of tax concessions was codified at least in the short term when Khan's government unveiled its budget for 2021–22 which had reduced customs duty on imports of inputs (raw materials) for final manufactured goods.[126]
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In foreign policy, Khan voiced support for the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. On 11 October 2019, Khan told the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that "Pakistan fully understands Turkey's concerns relating to terrorism".[127][128] Khan's foreign policy towards neighbouring Afghanistan consists primarily of support for the Afghan peace process[129] and also inaugurated a 24/7 border crossing with Afghanistan to facilitate travel and trade.[130] He said that Pakistan will never recognize Israel until a Palestinian state is created, a statement in line with the vision of Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah.[131] According to the British newspaper The Independent, Khan's government had improved Pakistan's reputation abroad by stepping into its role as a 'world player'.[132] In 2019, Khan was included in the Time 100, Time's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.[133]
Khan pursued a reset in ties with Gulf Arab states, such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, with the UAE agreeing to roll over Pakistan's debt on an interest-free loan.[134][135] Subsequently, Khan embarked on a three-day visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in order to reset ties, where he was personally received at the airport by Mohammad bin Salman.[136] The ties had become tense previously due to the unwillingness of Pakistan to contribute militarily to the Saudi Arabian–led intervention in Yemen.[137] Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Pakistan confirmed that the Saudi government had approved a concessionary loan for building a hydroelectric dam, the Mohmand dam.[138] Khan's government also improved ties with the Gulf state of Kuwait, as Kuwait confirmed it had lifted a ten-year visa ban on Pakistani nationals.[139] Khan's government enhanced economic ties with Qatar which is expected to benefit Pakistan by US$3 billion over 10 years by renegotiating terms in an energy supply deal which saw a significant reduction in Pakistan's energy import bill compared to the previous deal.[140][141] Khan was mediating between Iran and Saudi Arabia in an effort to end the war in Yemen, which is part of an Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict.[142]
On 9 May 2021, Khan condemned the Israeli police actions at Al-Aqsa, stating that such actions violated "all norms of humanity and [international] law".[143] Also, Khan has been vocal on the Kashmir issue, and his government adopted the foreign policy stance that no talks will be held with India on the Kashmir dispute until autonomy was restored in Indian-held Kashmir.[144][145] Khan's national security adviser Moeed Yusuf confirmed that backdoor contacts with India, ostensibly brokered by the UAE,[146] had broken down after India had refused to restore the region's autonomy.[147]
In August 2021, Khan celebrated the departure of the United States from Afghanistan, describing it as Afghans breaking "the shackles of slavery".[148]
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After twenty-three years without a prime minister of Pakistan visiting Moscow,[150] Khan became the first such official of the century when he landed in the Russian capital on 23 February 2022, for a two-day trip, where he planned to discuss "key issues of bilateral interest with top leadership," according to the Foreign Office of Pakistan. Nawaz Sharif, in March 1999, was the last to visit Moscow until then.[151]
The meeting between the two heads of state was planned months in advance, and the Russian president Vladimir Putin met with Khan just hours after the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine,[152] during the second day of Khan's visit. Radio Pakistan reported the two discussed "economic and energy cooperation",[153] namely a several billion dollar Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline project,[154] which Russian enterprises partnered in developing southward from Karachi to Punjab.[155][156]
The pipeline, which was begun in 2020, is the result of a 2015 agreement for a 1,100 km pipeline with a designed capacity ranging from 12.4 to 16 billion cubic meters, with Russia financing 26% of costs, which ranged from US$1.5–3.5 billion.[152][157] It was expected that, even under sanctions against Russia, Pakistan could still import up to 14 billion cubic meters of liquid natural gas (LNG) from the vast Russian reserves to the "energy-starved power plants" in Pakistan.[153] The Eurasian Pipeline Consortium and pipeline supplier TMK were tasked with the completion of the pipeline.[157]
Of the timing on the talks, Khan explained that he was invited by Putin months in advance and that he was not interested in joining any "blocs",[154] and welcomed neutrality in hopes of "peace and harmony within and among societies."[153] During the UN General Assembly emergency meeting on the invasion he expressed regret for the situation while abstaining on a resolution condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and called for de-escalation with adherence to international law as laid out in the UN Charter.[158] On 6 March, Khan addressed a political rally where he criticised the heads of 22 diplomatic missions who had released a letter urging Pakistan to support the UN resolution.[159]
According to a leaked classified Pakistani cypher, at a 7 March 2022 meeting between the Pakistani ambassador to the United States, Asad Majeed Khan, and two State Department officials, including Donald Lu, the US State Department encouraged the Pakistani government to remove Khan from office because of his neutrality on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In the meeting Lu said "I think if the no-confidence vote against the Prime Minister succeeds, all will be forgiven in Washington because the Russia visit is being looked at as a decision by the Prime Minister. Otherwise, I think it will be tough going ahead".[160][161] On 8 March 2022, the opposition parties submitted a motion of no confidence against Khan to the National Assembly's secretariat.[162][163] On 27 March Khan displayed a letter at a rally saying it contained evidence of a "foreign conspiracy" to remove his government.[164] On 10 April 2022, Khan sent the diplomatic cypher to Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, saying that the US had used Pakistan's ambassador to send a threatening message.[165] On 1 April 2022, Prime Minister Khan announced that in context of the no-confidence motion against him in the National Assembly, the three options were discussed with the establishment in Pakistan to choose from viz: "resignation, no-confidence [vote] or elections".[166]
On 3 April 2022, President Arif Alvi dissolved the National Assembly of Pakistan on Khan's advice, after the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly rejected and set-aside the motion of no confidence; this move would have required elections to the National Assembly to be held within 90 days.[167][168] On 10 April, after a Supreme Court ruling that the no-confidence motion was illegally rejected, a no-confidence vote was conducted and he was ousted from office,[169][170] becoming the first prime minister in Pakistan to be removed from office by a vote of no confidence.[171][172][173] Khan claimed the US was behind his removal because he conducted an independent foreign policy and had friendly relations with China and Russia. His removal led to protests from his supporters across Pakistan.[174][175][176]
In November 2022, when asked about the conspiracy to remove him, Khan said "it's behind me. The Pakistan I want to lead must have good relationships with everyone, especially the United States. Our relationship with the US has been as of a master-servant relationship, or a master-slave relationship, and we've been used like a hired gun. But for that I blame my own governments more than the US".[177][178]
Khan has claimed the US worked behind the scenes to bring him down, purportedly because of Washington's displeasure over his independent foreign policy choices, which often favour China and Russia.