Farhan Bokhari is an Islamabad-based foreign correspondent covering Pakistan and the surrounding region.

For a political party with supposedly diminishing fortunes, the removal of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) from its last provincial bastion on Oct. 11 should have marked the end of its politicking. Yet, the dismissal of Khan's provincial government in the northern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the pretext that it failed to crack down on terrorism, has failed to dent his popularity.

Failure to deal with terrorism -- the argument used by the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif -- should have be an important consideration since Khyber Pakhtunkhwa borders Afghanistan, which has been ruled by the Taliban once more over five years.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan's Taliban rulers of failing to act against the Pakistani Taliban -- who are distinct from their Afghan brethren. They have set up camps on Afghan territory for use as staging posts for terrorist attacks inside Pakistan. But responding to the scale of the Taliban attacks was clearly beyond the capacity of PTI's provincial government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa without robust federal backing from Sharif's government in Islamabad.

PTI's dismissal in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa came more than three years after Khan, the cricket star turned philanthropist and politician, was arrested along with his wife for alleged corruption. Khan's supporters and many independent observers said actions against Khan and his supporters were meant to undermine the party's popularity.

But Sharif's move was also a response to PTI's plan to embark on a "long march" from Peshawar, the provincial capital, to Islamabad for protests, so it was clearly tied to the country's domestic politics. PTI's dismissal only united its supporters, and posed a fresh political threat to Sharif and his party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) -- named after Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister's older brother and former prime minister.

It has aggravated Pakistan's already unsettled politics in the two years since a general election in February 2024. During that time, the PTI has claimed repeatedly that there was blatant rigging to undermine prospects for its candidates. In the final count after polling, many PTI candidates lost badly.

Pakistani police in rudimentary riot gear on Oct. 12, the day after a state of emergency was declared in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the provincial government dismissed.

Sharif's government has repeatedly rejected PTI's claims, and refused to make any concessions -- visible signs of its nervousness in case the opposition exploits even modest space to justify protests. For instance, PTI leaders have for months sought face-to-face meetings in jail with Khan to no avail.

Opposition leaders say official refusal to allow this symbolic gesture suggests the government fears Khan would order his party to step up protests across Pakistan.

Independent observers say the rising tension between the PTI and Sharif's government, which has the backing of the influential army, coincides with worsening economic trends affecting Pakistan's mainstream population. This all promises to undermine the position of the ruling structure as well as prospects for stability.

In a recent indication of public austerity, short-term inflation in Pakistan rose in mid-October to over 11% year on year, driven mainly by rising food prices due to fuel cost increases caused by US-Israeli attacks on Iran that began in late February.

Pakistan's central bank lifted its official interest rate by 0.5 of a percentage point to 12% on Monday, keeping the nation among those in the surrounding region with high rates -- notably Mongolia, Lebanon, Iran, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Businessmen lament the high cost of borrowings for operations to create more jobs, while ordinary consumers complain of the soaring cost of repaying personal loans. These trends have added to popular woes in a country where at least a third of the population remains in poverty.

Among other worries, Pakistan's leaders fear U.S. President Donald Trump may order renewed attacks on Iran that would lead to further oil price increases.

For now, there is a deadlock between Pakistan's government and Khan, with little room for even modest steps back on either side. Instead, Pakistan's government-influenced media -- particularly its TV channels -- have played up the failure of PTI's local government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to tackle terrorism.

Responding to official propaganda, young Pakistanis have turned to internet sites to drum up support for Khan and the PTI. With the proliferation of smart phones across Pakistan, such tactics promise to help undermine the government. PTI's popularity appears set to only grow despite Khan remaining in jail and the recent crack down in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.