Imran Khan

About the Imran Khan

Imran Ahmed Khan Niaziis a Pakistani politician and former cricketer who served as the 22nd prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 until April 2022. He is the founder and former chairman of the political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaffrom 1996 to 2023. He was the captain of the Pakistan national cricket team throughout the 1980s and early 1990s.

Born in Lahore, Khan graduated from Keble College, Oxford. He began his international cricket career in a 1971 Test series against England. Khan played until 1992, served as the team’s captain intermittently between 1982 and 1992, and won the 1992 Cricket World Cup, Pakistan’s only victory in the competition. Considered one of cricket’s greatest all-rounders, Khan was later inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. Founding the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insafin 1996, Khan won a seat in the National Assembly in the 2002 general election, serving as an opposition member from Mianwali until 2007. PTI boycotted the 2008 general election and became the second-largest party by popular vote in the 2013 general election. In the 2018 general election, running on a populist platform, PTI became the largest party in the National Assembly, and formed a coalition government with independents with Khan as prime minister.

As prime minister, Khan addressed a balance of payments crisis with bailouts from the IMF. He presided over a shrinking current account deficit, and limited defence spending to curtail the fiscal deficit, leading to some general economic growth. He enacted policies that increased tax collection and investment as well as advocated for transforming Pakistan into a welfare state. His government committed to a renewable energy transition, launched Ehsaas Programme and the Plant for Pakistan initiative, and expanded the protected areas of Pakistan. He presided over the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused economic turmoil and rising inflation in the country, threatening his political position.

In early 2022, in what became known as Lettergate, Khan alleged that the United States encouraged his removal from office. In April, during the ensuing constitutional crisis, Khan became the first Pakistani prime minister to be removed from office through a no-confidence motion. In August, he was charged under anti-terror laws after accusing the police and judiciary of detaining and torturing an aide. In October, Khan was disqualified by the Election Commission of Pakistan from taking office for the current term of the National Assembly of Pakistan, regarding the Toshakhana reference case. In November, he survived an assassination attempt during a political rally in Wazirabad, Punjab.

On 9 May 2023, Khan was arrested on corruption charges at the Islamabad High Court by paramilitary troops who smashed their way into the courthouse. Protests broke out throughout Pakistan, which led to the killings of at least 12 of Khan’s supporters, the arrest of thousands, and the ransacking of military installations. After his release, he blamed the Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir for his arrest. He was sentenced to a three-year jail term on 5 August 2023 after being found guilty of misusing his premiership to buy and sell gifts in state possession that were received during diplomatic visits abroad. On 29 August 2023, a Pakistani appeals court suspended Khan’s three-year prison term and granted him bail, but he remained incarcerated in connection with the Lettergate diplomatic cypher, for which he was accused of leaking state secrets and violating the Official Secrets Act. On 30 January 2024, a special court sentenced Khan to 10 years in prison after finding him guilty of those charges. On 3 February, Khan and his wife were convicted and sentenced to an additional seven years in prison for a breach of the Islamic marriage laws. The decision of the special court relating to the diplomatic cable was overturned by the Islamabad High Court on 3 June 2024. Khan’s conviction for a breach of the marriage laws was overturned on appeal on 13 July 2024. Khan remained in prison and was then arrested on charges related to the 2023 riots.