After ouster, Khan campaigns to reclaim leadership

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Tens of thousands flooded the streets across the country. Protesters brawled in a small mosque. And, at the upscale Islamabad Marriott Hotel, a fight broke out at an Iftar dinner between a lawmaker in Pakistan’s new government and a supporter of the recently ousted prime minister, Imran Khan.

It has been a tumultuous week in Pakistan, where Khan was removed from office in a no-confidence vote in Parliament last Sunday, capping a political crisis that pushed the country’s fragile democracy to the brink. For weeks, Khan, a former cricket star, had unleashed fiery denunciations of his opponents at large rallies, demonizing them as traitors in an attempt to block the vote.

But just days after being forced to step down, Khan was back on the campaign trail, leaving many in Pakistan bracing wearily for a new chapter of political turmoil. He is fighting for a comeback after losing the support of top military leaders, embracing the inflammatory tactics he used for years to whip up unrest and keep his predecessors off balance.

“Do we want to be the slaves of the United States or do we want real freedom?” Khan asked at a large rally Wednesday in Peshawar. “My youth, get ready, I will be out on the streets with you in every city until we force them to hold elections.”

Khan’s assertion that a U.S.backed conspiracy pushed him from office has become a centerpiece of his new campaign, which he hopes will force the new government to announce early elections this fall.

The rally, Khan’s first public appearance since stepping down, came as more than 100 of his party’s legislators resigned lasst week from the National Assembly — a move many saw as an attempt to undercut the legitimacy of the new government.

The heightened tension has stoked fears that unrest could seize Pakistan, a nuclear-armed nation of 220 million people, just as the new government grapples with soaring inflation and tries to repair the country’s delicate relationship with the U.S. in Khan’s wake.

“What we are seeing is not just preelection rhetoric, but a deep societal division which is not going to go away.” said Adil Najam of Boston University’s School of Global Studies and an expert on Pakistan’s politics.