No prime minister in the history of Pakistan has been able to serve his entire term in office. Often this had to do with the military, which largely controls the governance of the country – and on several occasions it has seized all power in a coup.

Imran Khan’s coming and going comes in parallel with his relationship with ‘Rawalpindi’, where the army is based. While a former cricketer and anti-corruption activist has given a lot of hope to young voters, it is widely accepted that he would not have won the 2018 elections without the support of the military.

His economic performance has been criticized for some time, and in 2020 there were major demonstrations led by a coalition of opposition parties. But over the course of 2021, it became clear that the military was no longer with him, as Khan and army chief General Qatar Bajwa publicly argued over the succession to the intelligence chief.

The Bajwa won the battle. In recent weeks, Bajwa expressed his dissatisfaction with Khan’s position on the war in Ukraine, which he did not condemn. While Khan described the vote of impeachment as an American plot, Bajwa spoke out against the war and in favor of the United States on Saturday.

The opposition does not hide the exploitation of these new relations through a vote of no-confidence now.