Dripping Desperation

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Pakistan is planning to ban the party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and prosecute the imprisoned politician for treason, moves that come days after Khan’s party was handed a win by the country’s top court that gives it more seats in parliament, Reuters reported.

Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the government would “ban” Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) based on allegations that the party received illegal foreign funds, incited riots last year targeting military installations and released secret information.

The move came three days after the Supreme Court granted the PTI extra seats in the National Assembly, Pakistan’s lower house of parliament, saying the party’s candidates fairly won them and were eligible to be seated.

The ruling dealt a blow to Prime Minister Sherbaz Sharif’s weak coalition government, which has strived to keep Khan at bay since his ousting in 2022, while grappling with a collapsing economy the Associated Press wrote.

The PTI won the most seats in the 2024 general election despite the obstacles thrown up by the government such as forcing candidates to run as independents. The top court’s verdict gave the PTI some of the 70 seats reserved for women and non-Muslim minorities, distributed among parties according to their share of the vote.

Khan’s aide Zulfi Bukhari told Al Jazeera the government’s latest decision to ban the party “betrays their complete panic” following a run of bad luck in courts. Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said they were “shocked” at the government’s move.

Khan and other senior PTI politicians – former President Arif Alvi and former Deputy Speaker of the Assembly Qarim Suli – will also face treason charges for their attempt to dissolve Parliament in 2022, the Diplomat reported.

Khan has been involved in a series of legal battles with Pakistani authorities that have kept him behind bars since August last year. He was acquitted on Saturday, along with his third wife, on charges that they married unlawfully. However, he will not be freed because the government ordered him arrested soon after the acquittal. Meanwhile, all four jail sentences Khan received ahead of a February national election have now been overturned or suspended.

A former cricket world champion, Khan is still Pakistan’s most popular politician, Le Monde Diplomatique wrote.