Unfortunately for them, IK was too ambitious and rebellious.
He started using the army's traditional rhetoric against them.
However, due to economic turmoil, IK became very popular right under the nose of the army.
This causes more difficulty in removing him for the army, than what they had faced with others.
Now, the army and IK are at loggerheads with each other. Essentially a good chunk of the population with a cult like following for IK, against the army which is a major political and economical force in its own right, but not power given by the people.
An immovable object vs. an unstoppable force.
Looks like IK will be the one who will be destroyed.
All other narratives (corruption, bribes, etc) are for plebs like us to debate. In the grand scheme of things, those don't matter to Pakistan, because the struggle is not over corruption, but power politics.
Down the grapevine (this is the internet so take with a massive grain of salt - I trust my source but you shouldn't trust me or any other anonymous commentator) I heard from Hill adjacent friends that there was some tussle between the upper level Army generals and upper level PTI members surrounding normalizing relations with India following the 2018-19 crisis. Higher ups in the Army wanted to normalize relations as a legacy making project, but certain political actors felt it would be electoral suicide for them if that happened.
Unfortunately for them, IK was too ambitious and rebellious.
He started using the army's traditional rhetoric against them.
However, due to economic turmoil, IK became very popular right under the nose of the army.
This causes more difficulty in removing him for the army, than what they had faced with others.
Now, the army and IK are at loggerheads with each other. Essentially a good chunk of the population with a cult like following for IK, against the army which is a major political and economical force in its own right, but not power given by the people.
An immovable object vs. an unstoppable force.
Looks like IK will be the one who will be destroyed.
All other narratives (corruption, bribes, etc) are for plebs like us to debate. In the grand scheme of things, those don't matter to Pakistan, because the struggle is not over corruption, but power politics.