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IIn late March, TIME spoke with former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Zoom from his home in Lahore about a new cover story. Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote in parliament last April, and the following year he held rallies calling for a snap election that could return him to power.
Meanwhile, Khan survived an assassination attempt and was hit with a series of accusations he claimed were fabricated to disqualify him from returning to politics, leading to a violent outburst between police and supporters outside his home in Lahore. He narrowly avoided arrest during the fight.
TIME photo by Umar Nadeem
read more: Exclusive: Imran Khan Discusses Plans to Return to Power
Here are five takeaways from Khan’s extensive conversation with TIME.
1. Khan still believes his life is in danger
In November, Khan was shot three times in the leg after gunmen opened fire on a truck loaded with containers during a rally, wounding several supporters and killing one. , claimed they were motivated by Khan’s PTI party playing campaign music during Islamic calls to prayer. But Khan believes his three figures in the current administration are ultimately responsible. (They all deny the accusations.) Khan told TIME that he had long anticipated the assassination attempt.
“A month and a half ago [my shooting], was warning that this was about to happen,” says Khan. “I told them they would shove me and blame religious fanatics. because it provided [my supporters] outside [my home] I believe that if they arrest me, they will kill me. “
2. Structural Causes of Pakistan’s Economic Crisis
Pakistan has been embroiled in an economic crisis, with inflation rising a record 47% year-on-year in March and the rupee plummeting 54% in the same period. The country’s foreign exchange reserves are just her $4.6 billion ($20 per capita) and the stalling International Monetary Fund bailout must be lifted to avoid default. For decades, Pakistan’s economy relied on foreign cash to balance its books, but since 2018 the Trump administration has suspended the $300 million in security assistance the US provided annually. , cash is almost depleted.
“The biggest problem is that we bought a lot more than we exported,” Khan says. “And none of the governments paid attention to increasing exports. When the economy starts to grow, imports increase. [and] we run out of dollars. And we have to go to the IMF. Pakistan, with a population of 220 million, has only about 2.5 million taxpayers. People, especially the wealthy elite, don’t pay taxes.
“We are in huge debt [and] The reason we can’t pay our debts is because you have to create wealth. But it is your industry and agriculture that creates wealth. they are both under contract. No one from inside or outside invests in Pakistan. They have completely lost faith in government. The default risk rate is almost 100%. Our bonds are worthless and no one will lend us any money. “
3. Khan wanted to use cricket to drive investment and develop the tourism industry in Pakistan
International test cricket, the game’s most prestigious form, has not been played in Pakistan since 2009 when a visiting Sri Lanka team was hit by a terrorist attack in Lahore that killed six people. Under Khan’s premiership, Pakistan hosted his first Test match in ten years in Sri Lanka in 2019. Khan, the former captain of the national cricket team, says ‘normalizing’ the visit to Pakistan is important for reasons bigger than sport.
“The number one thing is investment,” Khan says. “The more normalized the situation, the more likely there will be investments in Pakistan. Businessmen were meeting Pakistanis in Dubai. They would refuse to come to Pakistan. How can the economy grow in such an atmosphere?
“Second is tourism, because Pakistan has huge tourism potential. To offset that, we need tourism, which is why we had plans to develop different tourist destinations, but unfortunately two years of COVID have left us with very little tourism anywhere in the world.”
4. Pakistan handled the COVID-19 pandemic well because the government and military were united
One of the driving forces behind last April’s no-confidence vote was Khan’s loss of the support of Pakistan’s powerful military. He argues that the general’s unwillingness to pursue allegations of corruption in influential families caused their relationship to fray. Khan says he lost support for the Brashats after refusing to support their choice to head the Pakistani intelligence service known as the ISI because of their close ties to the Pakistani military. He also seemed uneasy about Khan’s persistent mockery of the United States, which was eager to maintain friendly relations.
In any event, during his tenure, Khan saw opportunities for the military and government to work better together, such as in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, when Pakistan recorded a death toll per capita that was just one-third that of neighboring India. said that there was “Like COVID-19, we were all on one page for him,” he says. “So we had their logistical support because it was all over the country. They really helped us, so we did a great job. when [for alleged corruption]I couldn’t do anything.
5. He still believes the US was behind his expulsion
Khan told TIME that Assistant Secretary of State for Central and South Asia Affairs Donald Lu warned Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States last March that “there will be consequences” unless he is ousted as prime minister. “There will be a confidence vote in parliament the next day,” says Khan. The State Department and the White House have repeatedly said there is “absolutely no truth” to Khan’s allegations.
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