Authorities had made several attempts to arrest Imran Khan since March
The arrest of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and his party’s call for nationwide protests is another blow to the nuclear-armed country struggling with an economic crisis.
The South Asian nation of 220 million is running out of dollars, inflation is over 36% and an expected IMF bailout has been delayed by months.
ECONOMIC SLOWDOWN
Industrial activity has come to a virtual standstill as the central bank hiked interest rates to a record 21% to fight inflation and exacerbate already high unemployment and poverty.
Women and children have been killed in stampedes at food distribution centers as food inflation soars to an all-time high of 40%.
BLOCKED RESCUE
An IMF bailout program that expires in June has stalled since November. Foreign exchange reserves of $4.457 billion cover nearly a month’s worth of imports.
Debt relief from friendly countries such as China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is still pending.
LOSS OF SALES
Most estimates are for a sales decline for the fiscal year through June to significantly exceed targets while the rupee remains weak.
CHOOSE
Pakistan is in a constitutional stalemate after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government in April rejected a Supreme Court order to hold local elections in Punjab province by mid-May. Failure to comply could result in lawsuits against the government. The court previously dismissed two prime ministers.
POLITICAL PRESSURE
Khan, who was arrested on charges of corruption and ousted as prime minister last year, had increased pressure on the government as he tried to return to power through an ongoing political campaign.
Authorities had made several attempts to arrest Khan since March, leading to clashes between his supporters and law enforcement personnel.
POWERFUL MILITARY
Pakistani governments typically seek the support of the powerful military, which has ruled the country for more than 30 of its 75 years. Three times military coups followed political chaos.
Khan’s arrest came a day after the military issued a rare statement denouncing him for making allegations against a duty officer.
RISING MILITANCE
The government says it plans a nationwide operation to root out Islamist militants in the face of recent attacks. The last such operation, in 2014, cost the country billions of dollars, killed hundreds and displaced about a million people.
(Except for the headline, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and was published by a syndicated feed.)
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