With march on Islamabad and fears of ‘civil war’, Imran Khan is refusing to go quietly

As Pakistan’s former prime minister prepares to lead a huge march to the capital with his supporters, experts tell Stuti Mishra his ousting may just have revived his political career

Supporters of deposed Prime Minister Imran Khan's party participate in a rally to condemn the ouster of their leader's government, in Karachi (AP)

When Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan was ousted with a historic no-confidence vote in the national assembly last month, no one really expected him to leave office easily.

The 69-year-old cricket legend has tried every trick in the book to remain in power – his party’s speaker dismissed the no-confidence vote, Khan called massive rallies as a show of power and alleged a US-led foreign conspiracy was hatched to remove him after he met Vladimir Putin. At the time, however, none of it was enough to save his premiership.

On 10 April 2022, Khan became the first prime minister of Pakistan to be deposed through a no-confidence motion in parliament. Although no leader in the country’s history has been able to complete a full five-year term, Khan’s ousting was significant for several reasons – not least for bringing two arch-rival parties, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), together in a united front against him.