What is the meaning of the recent change in Pakistan? Shabaz Sharif is now premier Pakistan and the coalition government in power until August 2023. Meanwhile, Imran Khan made a grave mistake in having his PTI resign from National Assembly. The PTI does have street power but that will not be effective. Protests will die down eventually. The Shabaz Sharif coalition faces dauting governance challenges of an overly complex nature. Pakistan faces an economic crisis and needs help from its Western allies, especially the USA.

It would be prudent to mend relations with America at earliest possible because of IMF loans issue. When Imran Khan came to power in 2018, he inherited a bad economic situation, but his bad policy decisions have now made it even worse. In the last year (fiscal year 2020-21), Pakistan’s economy grew by around 5.5%, which will decrease to 4% this fiscal year. It may be even lower, as Moody’s expected real GDP growth lies between 3pc and 4pc for this fiscal year. The current account deficit and budget deficits have increased and so has the national debt both internal and external. Meanwhile, inflation is high and foreign exchange reserves are extremely low. Back in 2018, there was much hope that Pakistan would turn around for the better. However, bad governance plagued the country and the turnaround never happened.

After Imran Khan’s recent foolishness and bad decisions, he will not be able to return to power again in Pakistan. The country will simply move on.

Dr. Sohail Mahmood is an Independent Political Analyst based in Chapel Hill NC.