Pakistani political crisis (2022–present)

Summary

On 10 April 2022, amidst the Pakistani constitutional crisis, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) successfully spurred the passing of a no-confidence motion against Imran Khan in the National Assembly. The Imran Khan government had taken office on 20 August 2018 and was widely thought to have enjoyed support from Pakistan's military establishment, which has dominated the country's internal and external political affairs since the partition of India. However, this support began dwindling around the time of the beginning of the 2021 economic crisis, which accompanied the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The PDM consisted of parties that were historically prominent in Pakistani politics, such as the Pakistan Muslim League (PML–N) and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), prior to Khan's founding of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in 1996. In the months preceding his ouster, Khan had urged the Pakistan Armed Forces to prevent the opposition from rising to power, but was ultimately rebuffed. On 11 April 2022, the National Assembly elected PML–N's Shehbaz Sharif as the new Prime Minister of Pakistan.