CHITRAL: Former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been in prison for two years, facing charges that remain highly controversial. His principal “offense” seems to be non-compliance with the wishes of the military establishment, which effectively runs the country. From this defiance arose a series of cases of various kinds, leading to his current situation.
Imran Khan practically burst onto the political scene with a bang when, at a massive and memorable rally in Lahore in 2011, he declared that if voted into power he would eliminate corruption within 90 days. The nation embraced this new hope for meaningful change. The educated middle class and white-collar public especially rallied behind him. Such was the emotional pull that people like this scribe crawled under barricade containers to attend his public meetings and contributed generously to support his party.
When he assumed office in 2018, expectations were sky-high. Sadly, those hopes were soon dashed. His tenure turned out to be “more of the same,” and even the few cosmetic reforms he introduced were unimpressive and superficial.
Had Imran Khan delivered on just one promise—instituting genuine government austerity, starting with himself—he would have earned lasting respect beyond politics and beyond the usual “zindabaad–murdabaad” slogans.
Muhammad Khan Junejo (may Allah be pleased with him), though installed by the military ruler Gen. Zia-ul-Haq, had the courage to place all generals and ministers in locally made cars and personally led by example. Symbolic as it was, it was a powerful and historic gesture. Though soon removed by the military junta, he remains firmly in the hearts of his admirers.
If Imran Khan is given another chance to govern, will he finally fulfill his early promise of genuine austerity—beyond auctioning the PM House’s buffaloes? Time will tell. .. CN report, 15 Nov 2025
5 thoughts on “What least Imran Khan could have done as Prime Minister”
Sadly IK was a big disappoinment as PM , his biggest failing being prone to bad advice and a poor judge of people. His religiosity and wearing Faith on his sleeve while believing in superstition and supporting lewd mullahs like Samiulhaq belied his rhetoric about justice and progress.
Pakistan needs a no nonsense leader like Lee Kwan Yew, Mahateer or maybe even an AtaTurk. Fickle, superstitious and religion mongering persons cannot bring about any reform.
Fully agree with the CN that Khan failed to deliver any visible, structural social change at the national level, even though some meaningful reforms were achieved in KPK. As a genuinely popular prime minister, he had the political capital to introduce at least a few meaningful, symbolic measures to weaken the grip of the “elite-captured” society and upper upper social class friendly system—where seven to eight hundred interconnected families have effectively ruled the country for the last 77 years.
Steps such as restricting luxury vehicles for officials, ending discretionary development funds for lawmakers, or firmly rejecting any form of extension for govt officials could have helped curb elite power. Khan, despite having public backing, could have reduced the influence of the “overman” simply by saying no to extensions. Even in the final round, instead of leaving office himself, he could have chosen to send the powerful home.
Instead, he wasted far too much time repeating old rhetoric—talking about “Riyasat-e-Madina,” issuing verbal threats to corrupt politicians, and returning to the same slogans without institutional change.
Agree with Noor Shahidin except for the phrase “even though some meaningful reforms were achieved in KPK”. Pray where are those ‘meaingful reforms’? please show us. With 14 years of un-interrupted government (and still continuing) having 2/3 majority, Imran Khan’s govt in KPK fares as good or as bad as the other provinces. Banking on others weaknesess as a cornerstone of one’s politics without self doing anything cannot be fruitful in the long run.
If Imran Khan had excuses for not being able to follow his manifesto in other fields, he could have at least imposed austerity starting with himself which was one of his main election promises. Who was stopping him from that. Even the head of richest governments of the world cannot think of going to office from home at a distance of 12 km, in a helicopter daily, and here the head of a near bankrupt country and claimant of ‘Riasat e Madina’ was doing that. Having said that, any way have sympathies with him and good wishes for his early release.