Pakistan deserves better than Imran Khan

Democracy and the rule of law have always struggled to take hold in Pakistan, a country in which no elected prime minister has yet completed a full term in office and where the military has been in power for nearly half of its history. 

The latest antics of Imran Khan, the former prime minister, do little to instil confidence that rules count for much in Pakistan. There were violent clashes between Khan’s supporters and police when they came to arrest him this week for failing to appear in court on charges of illegally selling state gifts during his four-year rule.

The police operation was called off temporarily while the authorities grappled with how best to deal with the protests as well as the public embarrassment of the country’s former leader avoiding arrest, appearing to place himself above the law.

Khan denies all wrongdoing and claims the charges are a plot to discredit him, urging his followers to fight on, tweeting that there was a plot ‘to abduct & assassinate’ him.