ISLAMABAD – Pakistan´s World Cup cricket hero Imran Khan is set to becomeprime minister of the nuclear-armed nation of 207 million, with an economyinching toward crisis and perennial conflict on its borders.
Running the country will take considerable statecraft from Khan´srelatively inexperienced party. He brings charisma, international namerecognition and a sizeable election victory, though not enough to form amajority government.
But critics say his star is diminished by sympathy towards extremists, andthe unsportsmanlike nature of his win.
His first challenge is cobbling together a coalition.
Here is a rundown of the issues Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)party will face once at the political crease.
*Demagogue or democrat?*
Khan has spent much of his political career as a populist agitatorpromising change rather than actually passing laws.”Imran Khan has been his own man. He doesn´t even go to parliament,” saidpolitical commentator Fasi Zaka. “He´s been practised in protest for fiveyears.”
PTI, meanwhile, has only ever governed in a provincial setting. Thelearning curve at the national level will be steep.
His success could depend on the coalition his party manages to form, andwhether the outgoing Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and once-powerfulPakistan People´s Party (PPP) end up joining hands in opposition.
Analysts have said it should be straightforward for Khan to form acoalition with independents and small Islamist parties, as they know he isfavoured by the powerful military.
But he has already created unease by pandering to Islamists during thecampaign, and such a coalition could fuel fears his government will caterto the religious right.
*Relations with military*
To Khan´s rivals, he is the military´s “blue-eyed boy”.
However he will not be the first premier to take office on good terms withthe armed forces.
“When he wants to wield power, does it converge with the military orclash?” asked retired general and analyst Talat Masood. “I think it´s a bigquestion mark.”
*Economy*
All indicators suggest Khan´s government will immediately have to approachthe IMF for what would be the country´s 13th bailout from the fund.
“Exports are down, debt is up, the macro indicators are pretty poor,” saidSehar Tariq with the US Institute of Peace.
But an IMF bailout would likely hamper his aim of creating an Islamicwelfare system, at least in the short-term.
The other option may be further borrowing from China.
But there are already concerns about Pakistan´s ability to hold up its endof an opaque deal that is seeing Beijing pour billions in investment intothe country.
*Corruption*
When Khan first entered politics in the mid-90s, his goals werestraightforward — rein in endemic corruption and weed out the venalpolitical elite.
But before the election he stirred controversy by bringing in so-called”electables” — politicians with huge vote banks but without clean recordson corruption.
Catering to theses electables and newly-minted coalition partners whiletrying to excise corruption may prove difficult.
PTI has also vowed to force Pakistanis to pay their taxes — but there is along way to go, with only around one percent of the population complying.
“People don´t pay taxes because they see how our ruling elite spends thatmoney,” said Khan during a victory speech last week.
“I will protect the people´s tax money.”
*International relations*
Pakistan is surrounded by enemies, has fallen out with its tenuous ally theUS and has become overly dependent on its relationship with Beijing, someanalysts say.
Khan has already vowed to rebalance Islamabad´s relationship with the US,months after US President Donald Trump suspended security aid overIslamabad´s alleged failure to target militancy along its borders.
But, said Tariq, “the road to better relations with Pakistan and the US isnot a direct road… it goes through Afghanistan.”
And Afghanistan may prove a sore spot.
Khan has criticised the role of the US there in the past, which is notlikely to endear him to Washington now.
He has also called for open borders — a stark contrast to his military´shighly-publicised efforts to build a costly fence to seal the frontier. -APP/AFP