The country\u2019s economic, political and security crises are deepening. They won\u2019t be solved by a backstage fix<\/p>\n
If anyone had a scintilla of doubt about what lay behind the multiple convictions of Pakistan\u2019s former prime minister Imran Khan, their timing was designed to dispel it. He was already behind bars<\/a> and banned from running in Thursday\u2019s election<\/a>. Then, last Tuesday, he was sentenced to 10 years for leaking official secrets<\/a>. Last Wednesday, he was handed another 14 years for corruption<\/a> related to selling state gifts. At the weekend, he and his wife each received a seven-year sentence in a case relating to their marriage, which the verdict declared \u201cun-Islamic\u201d \u2013 hammering home the message to those still planning to vote for candidates from his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.<\/p>\n That the delayed election is taking place suggests the army is reasonably confident it has seen off Mr Khan\u2019s challenge, though he remains Pakistan\u2019s most popular politician<\/a>. Elections are welcome in a nation that has spent half its life under direct military rule. But no elected prime minister has completed a full term in office and, at the best of times, the generals have merely retreated backstage. In 2022, the outgoing army chief acknowledged<\/a> its \u201cconstant\u201d meddling.<\/p>\n