ISLAMABAD – Pakistan has spent roughly half its nearly 71-year historyunder military rule, and the imbalance of power in between civiliangovernments and the armed forces has long been seen as an impediment todemocracy and progress.

Hope surged in 2013 as the country saw its first-ever democratic transitionof power.

But since then, experts have warned of a “creeping coup”, fuelled bytensions between the generals and three-time premier Nawaz Sharif, largelyattributed to his desire to assert civilian supremacy and seek warmerrelations with arch-rival India.

Sharif, ousted in 2017 and arrested for corruption in July, has said he andhis party were targeted by the military. It denies the allegations.

Khan, who has already made overtures to India, insisted in parliamentFriday that he had been elected without any help.

“I am standing here in this parliament on my own feet,” he said.

He will have to meet the country’s challenges without upsetting thisdelicate balance of power.