Islamabad, Jan 28 Pakistan's renewed relevance and facade of internal stability, secured through the suppression of dissent and temporary major power favour, remain fragile as the hybrid regime still struggles to secure public trust, and the illusion of order "carries the seeds of its undoing", a report said on Wednesday.
Writing for ‘East Asia Forum’, Imtiaz Gul, Executive Director at the Islamabad-based Centre for Research and Security Studies, said that in 2025, Pakistan had decisively consolidated military power with the hybrid system, which once placed civilian politicians in the spotlight while the army controlled the real authority -- giving way to overt military dominance.
“For many Pakistanis, 2025 marked a deeper erosion of democracy. The judiciary weakened further, parliamentary authority diminished and elected representatives were reduced to largely compliant roles. Most members of the National Assembly, seated after the disputed February 2024 elections, aligned closely with the military establishment. Through a series of legislative measures, they formalised a transfer of authority from civilian institutions to the armed forces, prioritising stability over democratic contestation,” he stated.
According to the report, the developments in Pakistan deepened the marginalisation of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan — detained since August 2023 on charges widely regarded as “politically motivated” — intensifying domestic unrest.
“Months ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House, Khan’s supporters had lobbied republican congressmen August Pfluger, Joe Wilson and Jack Bergman as well as a close Trump aide, Richard Grenell, for Khan’s release. But subsequent international developments brought those efforts to naught. Khan’s detention continued to draw international concern. In December 2025, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Alice Jill Edwards called for urgent action over reports of inhumane conditions at Adiala Jail, including prolonged solitary confinement,” it detailed.
Pakistan’s civil-military leadership earned international attention when Trump called Pakistani Army Chief Munir as his ‘favourite Field Marshal’.
“The warmth effectively extinguished hopes among Khan’s supporters that external pressure might secure his release from the more than 180 cases filed against him since his removal in a no-confidence vote in April 2022,” the report stated.
The report highlighted that the events of 2025 in Pakistan reflected how easily democratic principles can be sold for strategic convenience. Amid the US's growing rivalry with China and Russia, a military-led Pakistan aligned itself with Washington’s priorities.
It further said that the global scrutiny of Pakistan’s democratic practices and human rights record waned primarily due to geopolitical reasons.
The report noted, “In Pakistan, where grievances repeatedly boil over, short-term order may prove a prelude to deeper and more dangerous disorder.”
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