Never in the history of Pakistan, a government became so popular as one led by Imran Khan. The decision by the PTI government has made PM Khan the most popular Prime Minister of Pakistan. News TV viewership is higher than ever before. Even when the PTI was not in power, it grabbed the largest share of screen timings due to its popularity among masses.
PM Imran Khan is also the only Prime Minister that has become a prominent international personality. No Pakistani PM was so much known than Khan. We can say PM Imran Khan has easily become a more important leader than late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
Striking the balance
PM Imran Khan plays safely. When he was in opposition, he was the one who opposed American ‘War on Terror’. He demanded an end to drone strikes. He staged protests and blocked NATO supplies. His campaign against Raymond Davis became the major turning point in his political career. Since then he gained multifold popularity.
Read here: PM Imran Khan has grown stronger amid opposition’s time wasting activities
His opposition towards the US while staying out of power but his neutrality after becoming the PM is evidence of his smartness. His quality of playing safe shows that he is wiser than Bhutto. He has struck the best balance of the relationship between the US and Pakistan. He is also popular among military ranks of Pakistan for his steadfast, bold and credible character.
The moment Imran Khan became the leader of Pakistan
It was very much likely for me that Imran Khan will become PM when he stood in the Raymond Davis Case. Though he was running a fierce opposition against governments from 2003 to 2004, he became popular after two Lahoris were killed by an American citizen Raymond Davis in 2011. Raymond Davis was forgiven by relatives of victims with the help of the then Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s negotiation. However, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the then Foreign Minister, resigned in protest against safe passage given to Mr Davis by PPP Government.
Mr Qureshi joined PTI and since then PTI’s popularity took off. It was after this Lahore incident that Imran Khan was able to gather more than a hundred thousand crowds at Minar-e-Pakistan. But still then, many laughed at me for my support for Mr Khan. Same people who censured me for his support, saluted me when Imran Khan became PM of Pakistan in 2018.
Read here:18th amendment and democratic development in Pakistan
Today, in order to maintain the popularity, PM Khan will have to take drastic measures of public workers such as educational and health centres with proper management systems. After all, it is the public that will decide who will remain in power and not the opposition parties.