Imran's fall from grace is his own fault and tragic for Pakistani democracy

Even if he survives, he will find his political capital severely dented - and be even more in debt to the military

Pakistan is once again facing a political crisis. In a country where democratically elected leaders are regularly ousted from office, that should not be entirely surprising.

Yet this time it is. Although Prime Minister Imran Khan was elected in 2018 with only a slender majority in the National Assembly, he seemed likely to serve out his term without incident. His personal popularity was unquestioned. The economy appeared to have bottomed out. The opposition was divided and in disarray, with corruption cases against most of its senior leaders.

Most importantly, Khan had the clear backing of Pakistan’s powerful military. And, last year, Khan