Is Imran Khan a gifted conjurer whose fans are too enamoured by the spectacle he produces to even consider the smoke and mirrors that share the stage with him?
Transparency International release their 2011 corruption index, and the results reflect the public unrest across the world. Additionally, when the data is compared alongside development indicators, a clear correlation arises.
In many countries, if six cabinet ministers were forced to resign because of corruption allegations, you’d expect that voters would be baying for the blood of the top boss too. But not in Brazil. The president is cleaning house.
Is this Imran Khan’s time? Has he struck a chord with the people of Pakistan and become a threat to established political parties? Or will “the-beard-in-the-stomach” image cause him to fail at the ballot box?
Allegations of financial corruption, open infighting and ideological disarray: despite the bluff and bluster, Team Anna is ravaged by its own contradictions. This is not a story with a happy ending.