Pakistan’s hybrid regime

Pakistan’s military remains the primary beneficiary of the country’s hybrid system.

Pakistan’s hybrid model has only one challenge: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its leader, Imran Khan, who is behind bars on corruption charges. The PTI has called for a nationwide protest on August 5, coinciding with Imran’s arrest in 2023, and termed its agenda ‘Free Imran Khan movement’. Anticipating violence, the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif converted the Frontier Constabulary, a border security force, to the Federal Constabulary through a Presidential Ordinance, Frontier Constabulary (Reorganisation) Ordinance, 2025, ostensibly to maintain law and order and help the security agencies.