Imran Khan and His Naya Pakistan

S Akbar Zaidi writes:

Simplistic and clichéd parallels are being drawn between Pakistan’s newly elected Prime Minister, Imran Khan, and a number of right-wing populist-elected leaders, including Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Rodrigo Duterte. Most right-wing-elected leaders have fairly similar strains, and one can identify some characteristics found in others. But specific contexts, conditions and histories make such parallels and comparisons weak and meaningless. Hence, to claim as many have, that Khan is “a Modi” or “a Trump,” is not only incorrect, but undermines numerous specificities that categorise each political leader. Moreover, who or what Khan will be depends crucially on what he is allowed to become by institutions that are far stronger than him, such as the military, to whom he is beholden.