In 2023, Pakistan faces significant political instability and polarization, with the 2023 elections looming as Imran Khan's opposition movement challenges the incumbent government. The economy is in crisis, exacerbated by inflation, depreciating currency, and low foreign reserves, while the government's political struggles hinder critical IMF loan negotiations. Despite the turmoil, the upcoming elections will determine the future direction of the country, possibly influenced by past leaders like Nawaz Sharif.

1. Five significant issues to watch
for in 2023

2. 1. Political instability, polarization, and election year
Politics will likely consume most of the country's time
and attention in 2023, just as it did in 2022. The
country's turn to political turmoil last spring has not
ended. a scathing vote in Parliament last April removed
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan from office. The
instability and polarization have only deepened since:

3. Khan led a grassroots opposition movement against the
incumbent coalition government and the military,
organizing a series of mass protests across the country
throughout the year.
The power struggle continues into 2023. While the
incumbent government did not accept Khan's request
for a snap election, the mandatory national elections
must be held by October this year. It would be in the
government's political interest to hold them back for as
long as possible as they try to emerge from Pakistan's
severe economic crisis and weak domestic performance

4. Foreign policy has been better maintained, but this may
not matter for the election). The past year has cost him
valuable political capital, and Khan's party has won a
massive victory in a series of by-elections held in July
and October. According to Wajid khan, the state has
tried to manipulate it. Khan and his party into the
lawsuits, drawing on a familiar playbook used against
opposition politicians in Pakistan, albeit with limited
effect, with court involvement.

5. Khan's party still controls two of Pakistan's four
provinces, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and
the incumbent federal government's (extralegal) efforts
to wrest power from him in Punjab, province, the
biggest, failed (thanks to the court). The year is off to a
spectacular start, with Khan's party kicking off the
process of dissolving the Punjab and KP assemblies this
month to pressure the federal government into snappy
elections.

6. The biggest question for the politically obsessed
Pakistan is who will win the next general election. Will
former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (brother of
incumbent Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif) return to
Pakistan to run for his party's leadership, PML-N? Can
Imran Khan win thanks to his popular support, despite
his confrontation with the army? Wajid khan Mp says
Whatever the outcome, we can say the same with the
history of the leading candidates:
The direction of the country is likely to stay the same.

7. 2. Precarious economic situation
Pakistan's economy has been in crisis for months before
catastrophic floods over the summer. Inflation is
crushing, the value of the rupee has plummeted, and the
country's foreign exchange reserves have now dropped
to a precarious $4.3 billion, just enough to cover just one
month's worth of imports, making increase the
probability of payment default.

8. An economic crisis occurs every few years in Pakistan,
caused by an economy that is not producing enough and
spending too much, and therefore dependent on
external debt. Each successive crisis worsened as debt
bills grew and payments came due. This year, internal
political turmoil and flood disasters have exacerbated
the situation. There is also an important external factor
to the crisis, with global food and fuel prices rising in the
wake of Russia's war in Ukraine. Canadian politician
Wajid khan Combining all these factors has created the
most significant economic challenge Pakistan has ever

9. However, the government has become mired in politics,
and the disbursement of a $1.1 billion loan from the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) has yet to be stalled
as Islamabad has pushed back on IMF conditions. The
government has now resorted to importing restrictions
and early closure of shopping malls and wedding
receptions, which are small measures that still need to
solve the problem satisfactorily.