In Pakistan, a coup that wasn't.

• Author: Ahmed, Munir
• Position: News

Byline: Munir Ahmed

ISLAMABAD -- It had all the elements of a classic coup: thousands descending on the capital, clashing with police outside parliament and commandeering state TV to demand the ouster of a civilian leader who had locked horns with the military in a country with a long history of turmoil and dictatorship.

But when the tear gas cleared in Islamabad in August, Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif remained in office with the support of the entire parliament, the troops were still in their barracks, and the protesters had dwindled to a few thousand, their ''revolution'' confined to a festive, shrinking tent camp. The uprising led by former cricket star Imran Khan and cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri failed to overthrow Sharif, but it did rattle the conventional view of Pakistan as a tottering state perpetually leaning on an all-powerful army. ''Parliament's unanimous support for Nawaz Sharif played a key role in saving democracy in Pakistan,'' political analyst Mahdi Hasan said.

Khan and Qadri had accused Sharif of massive fraud in the 2013 election that brought him to office in Pakistan's first-ever democratic transfer of power. International monitors reported irregularities in the vote, but have not questioned the outcome. Beyond the voting allegations, Khan and Sharif are longtime political opponents, while Qadri holds Sharif personally responsible for the deaths of 14 of his supporters in clashes with police in Lahore in June.

At the peak of the protests in August some 70,000 people thronged the heart of the capital. On Aug. 30 the demonstrators burst through security barricades and clashed with police outside parliament. The police fired tear gas and rubber bullets. Three people were killed in the melee and another 500 -- including police -- were wounded.

The military, which had troops deployed to back the police, might have chosen that moment to side with the protesters and push for Sharif's ouster. The army...