After days of political ferment and tumult, which led to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan’s ouster in a midnight no-confidence vote last Saturday, Islamabad has a new sheriff in town—Shehbaz Sharif. Sharif takes over as 23rd Prime Minister at a time when Pakistan’s economy is in the doldrums and is currency greatly weakened. This even as Imran Khan is drawing large sympathetic crowds at his rallies where he does not shy of describing his opponents as thieves. His Pakistan Tehreek-i-insaaf party or PTI has decided to boycott the National Assembly for the foreseeable future.
To understand the implications of this virulent uncertainty in Islamabad, Mayank Chhaya Reports spoke to Anwar Iqbal, Washington correspondent of the Karachi-based Dawn newspaper and one of the most astute observers of his country’s politics.