Amid an escalating standoff with the current government, former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has landed on the cover of TIME magazine. The May issue features an exclusive interview with Khan, who talks about his plans to return to power.
Khan was overthrown in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence a year ago. Since then, the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has been demanding snap polls, exerting pressure on the incumbent government through power shows attended by thousands of followers across the country.
To persuade the government to hold early elections, Khan took out two long marches last year. In November, during one of the marches, an assassination attempt was made on him. Khan claims that his opponents, including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, were behind the attack.
Despite being disqualified by the election commission and facing over a hundred cases involving allegations of corruption, sedition, blasphemy, and terrorism, Khan remains the most popular politician in Pakistan, with thousands of diehard supporters willing to take to the streets at his call.
“Imran Khan has been ousted from government and faced an assassination attempt, but remains the most popular politician in Pakistan,” tweeted TIME magazine, which unveiled the cover on their official Twitter account.
You can read takeaways from Time Magazin’s interview here.
