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When Pakistan\u2019s government censored the media, former Prime Minister Imran Khan\u2019s party posted campaign videos on TikTok. When the police barred his supporters from holding rallies, they hosted virtual gatherings online.<\/p>\n
And when Mr. Khan ended up behind bars, his supporters produced speeches using artificial intelligence to simulate his voice.<\/p>\n
Mr. Khan\u2019s message resonated with millions across the country who were frustrated by the country\u2019s economic crisis and old political dynasties: Pakistan has been on a steep decline for decades, he explained, and only he could restore its former greatness.<\/p>\n
The success of candidates aligned with Mr. Khan\u2019s party in last week\u2019s election \u2014 snagging more seats than any other in Parliament \u2014 was a stunning upset in Pakistani politics. Since Mr. Khan fell out with the country\u2019s generals and was ousted by Parliament in 2022, his supporters had faced a military-led crackdown that experts said was designed to sideline the former prime minister.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
His success marked the first time in Pakistan\u2019s recent history that the political strategy used by the country\u2019s powerful military for decades to keep its grip on power had suddenly veered off course. It also proved how Mr. Khan\u2019s populist rhetoric and the country\u2019s internet-savvy youth bulge <\/strong>are rewriting politics in Pakistan, a nuclear-armed nation of 240 million people that has struggled with military coups since its founding 76 years ago.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Now, as the parties of both Mr. Khan and Nawaz Sharif, the three-time former prime minister, race to win over other lawmakers and establish a coalition government, Pakistan is in uncharted territory. If Mr. Khan\u2019s party succeeds \u2014 an outcome many analysts believe is unlikely \u2014 it would be the first time in Pakistan\u2019s history that a civilian government would be led by a party at odds with the military and whose leader is behind bars.<\/p>\n No matter the outcome, Mr. Khan\u2019s party \u201cproved it is an unshakable political presence, tapping into the dissatisfaction of Pakistan\u2019s youth,\u201d said Adam Weinstein, deputy director of the Middle East program at the Quincy Institute, a Washington-based think tank. \u201cThe old playbook for shaping the country\u2019s politics is outdated; social media and youth mobilization have become game changers.\u201d<\/p>\n For roughly half of Pakistan\u2019s history, the military has ruled the country directly. When civilian governments have been allowed to come to power, they were led by a handful of leaders \u2014 including Mr. Khan\u2019s rival in this election, Mr. Sharif \u2014 who were typically ushered into power with the support of the generals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Those military-aligned leaders built political parties around their family dynasties, passing party leadership from one generation to another \u2014 and keeping political power within a tightknit circle. But in recent years, as the country\u2019s young population has ballooned to around half its electorate, there has been a growing frustration with that system, analysts say.<\/p>\n Young people felt shut out of Pakistan\u2019s political system because \u201csomeone in the family will always get the top slot,\u201d said Zaigham Khan, a political analyst based in Islamabad. \u201cThe old parties are becoming obsolete because they refuse to change \u2014 and that created a vacuum for someone like Imran Khan.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n While Mr. Khan initially rose to political prominence with the military\u2019s help, after his ouster he capitalized on young people\u2019s yearning for change to strengthen his political base independent of the generals. His party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or P.T.I., produced political campaigns on social media \u2014 outside the reach of state censorship \u2014 that young people say stirred a political awakening for their generation.<\/p>\n In viral videos, Mr. Khan railed against the country\u2019s generals, whom he blamed for his ouster in 2022. He described how the military operated like a \u201cdeep state\u201d governing politics from behind-the-scenes, and claimed that the United States had colluded with Pakistani officials on his removal from power. He described himself as a reformer who would bring change.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n His message galvanized young people<\/a> across the country.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m voting for change. I\u2019m fed up with this whole system of political parties that have been running the country,\u201d said Usman Saeed, 36, as he stood outside a polling station in Lahore on Thursday after casting his vote for P.T.I. candidates. \u201cThey\u2019ve put Imran Khan in jail \u2014 that\u2019s the main issue \u2014 it shows it\u2019s all been managed by the establishment,\u201d he added, referring to the military.<\/p>\n Few of these voters remembered the discontent of Mr. Khan\u2019s last months in office, when his popularity plummeted as inflation soared. Had he been allowed to complete his term, many analysts said, his party likely would not have won the next general elections.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n But even after his ouster, the country\u2019s military leaders appeared to underestimate the country\u2019s shifting political sands. As Mr. Khan made a political comeback, the generals turned to their old playbook to sideline him<\/a>.<\/p>\n Authorities slapped Mr. Khan with dozens of charges that resulted in four separate sentences totaling 34 years in prison. They arrested hundreds of his supporters and \u2014 for the first time \u2014 cast a much wider net, going after Pakistanis in the country\u2019s elite, even those with close ties to the military itself.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n That intimidation campaign appeared to only bolster support for Mr. Khan. Because the crackdown was publicized widely on social media, it exposed and turned more of the public against the military\u2019s heavy hand in politics. Many people who cast ballots last week for Mr. Khan\u2019s party said they did so simply to spite the generals.<\/p>\n Looming over the political scramble now to form a new government are widespread allegations of the military tampering with vote counts and the promises by Mr. Khan\u2019s party of long, bruising court battles to challenge dozens of results it says the military rigged. On Sunday, thousands of Mr. Khan\u2019s supporters took to the streets across the country to express anger over allegations of election fraud \u2014 protests that were met with police batons and tear gas.<\/p>\n \u201cP.T.I. is a peaceful party that has ushered in a revolution through the ballot,\u201d the party\u2019s head in Punjab Province, Hammad Azhar, said on the platform known as X<\/a>. \u201cWe will not allow our struggle to be hijacked by nefarious designs.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The political showdown has put the country \u2014 whose history is littered with military coups and mass unrest \u2014 on edge. Most agree that despite the election\u2019s results showing just how many Pakistanis are rejecting the country\u2019s broken political system, Pakistan is still not moving in a direction of greater stability or a stronger democracy.<\/p>\n \u201cEven if the balance of power is tilting in favor of the political parties, will they actually act democratic themselves?\u201d said Bilal Gilani, the executive director of Gallup Pakistan. \u201cOr will they become more fascist in their ideologies? Will they exclude the people who haven\u2019t voted for them? That\u2019s the question now.\u201d<\/p>\n Zia ur-Rehman contributed reporting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n