Imran Khan, the Pakistani cricketing icon turned global leader, enjoys immense popularity in his constituency and ancestral home of Mianwali, yet the political banners adorning the streets lack his visage, and the colors of his flags remain conspicuously absent.
Pakistan’s powerful military is widely held responsible for an unyielding crackdown that has nearly erased him and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party from the electoral landscape as the vote approaches.
‘Our party workers are facing harassment, and I personally have received death threats,’ says 61-year-old Jamal Ahsan Khan, who is standing for PTI in Mianwali in place of his leader.
‘Throughout my life, I have never witnessed an election as intense and threatening as this one.’
Khan, presently incarcerated and grappling with numerous legal hurdles, is ineligible to participate in the elections on February 8 due to a corruption conviction, a situation he contends is politically motivated.
Nationwide, PTI has faced impediments in organizing rallies, and the tightly controlled media is constrained in covering opposition activities, compelling the party to shift its campaign predominantly to the online sphere.
The rejection of nomination papers by the electoral commission has affected dozens of candidates across the country.
Like many other party candidates, loyalist Ahsan Khan has been in near hiding in the build-up to the election, unable to hold meetings or distribute leaflets.
“It feels disheartening that as a candidate of Pakistan’s leading political party, I am unable to conduct my campaign in a meaningful way,” he told AFP.
PTI’s national victory in 2018, driven by its promises to put an end to corruption and the family dynasties which have ruled the country for generations, propelled him to prime minister.
With the vote merely two weeks away, the customary fervor and excitement that usually characterize elections in this country of over 240 million people are notably absent.
Khan constructed his political legacy and secured three parliamentary victories as an MP from Mianwali, a predominantly rural district situated in the central province of Punjab.
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In Mianwali, where he notably built a hospital and a university, the 71-year-old “is not just a political figure, he is a hero”, Rana Amjad Iqbal, editor-in-chief of local newspaper Nawa-e-Sharar, or the Daily Spark, tells AFP.
“However, the primary and most significant reason for his enduring political relevance lies in his anti-establishment stance,” underlines the journalist.
Khan, once widely thought to have received support from the military in his ascent to power, grew increasingly assertive during his leadership, challenging the influence of the powerful generals.
In the end, he lost their support, resulting in his removal through a parliamentary no-confidence vote in 2022, spurred by the defection of numerous MPs.
Following his arrest in May 2023, supporters rallied in the streets, protesting against military symbols and setting off a comprehensive crackdown against PTI.
Supporters numbering in the thousands were arrested, with about 100, half hailing from Mianwali, awaiting trial before military courts. Simultaneously, senior party leaders were detained, forced underground, and subsequently defected in large numbers.
Khan “is still popular with the public, but he is unacceptable” to the army, retired schoolteacher Ijaz Khan said.