Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has claimed that the case against the leader was filed to silence him. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison this month, and the PTI, claiming his innocence, has claimed that it was motivated by political vendetta.
The former prime minister, a long-time source of frustration for the powerful military, has been in custody since August 2023 and faces a number of politically motivated legal cases. The longest-running of those cases is the corruption conviction linked to the welfare foundation he founded with his wife, the Al-Qadir Trust.
“The Al-Qadir Trust case, like previous cases, is being used only to pressure me, but I demand its immediate resolution,” Khan said in a statement he has repeatedly made against the authorities this month. Analysts say the military establishment is using the allegations against Khan as a bargaining chip with him, whose popularity has weakened the unstable coalition government that kept his party out of power in last year’s elections.
“The establishment’s deal is either he comes out and stays quiet or he remains calm and civilized until the next election,” said Ayesha Siddiqui, a London-based writer and analyst on the Pakistani military. Analysts say the military is the ‘kingmaker’ in Pakistani politics, although the generals have refused to show any direct interference in politics.
Khan said he was once offered three years of exile abroad and was recently indirectly approached about the possibility of house arrest at his large home on the outskirts of the capital. “We can infer from the delay that this is a politically motivated decision. This is a ‘Sword of Damocles’ on former Prime Minister Khan,” Khan’s legal advisor Faizal Farid Chaudhry told AFP.
Chaudhary said, “This issue has lost its credibility. Leader Khan will not accept any compromise that will keep him silent.” Khan has been convicted and sentenced four times in other cases. The Supreme Court has overturned two of the cases and suspended the sentences in two others.
The anti-corruption ‘Accountability Court’ is set to deliver its verdict and sentence in the welfare foundation case on Friday, two days after government envoys scheduled a meeting with leaders of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to defuse tensions. PTI had earlier said that its leaders would refuse to negotiate with a government that claims illegitimate power, accusing the coalition of rigging the February 2024 elections.
They have said they will only participate in the talks if political prisoners are released and an independent inquiry is launched into allegations that authorities have responded harshly to PTI protests. Otherwise, Khan has threatened to withdraw his party from the talks and continue his campaign of civil disobedience. Khan’s protests have repeatedly brought Islamabad to a standstill.
The latest protests erupted after the PTI alleged that at least 10 of its workers were shot dead on November 26. According to the government, five security personnel were killed in the clashes. “PTI needs its leaders to be able to negotiate with the government if it legitimizes itself,” said Asma Faiz, associate professor of political science at the Lahore University of Management Sciences.
They want to give some relief to Imran Khan and his party to calm domestic and international criticism,” Faiz told AFP. According to Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington, it appears to be a stalemate for now.
He said, “The army may be willing to make a deal to release Khan from prison, but Khan will not accept the potential conditions for his freedom.” “The other problem is that I cannot imagine the government agreeing to the November 26 investigation, and the PTI will not back down from that demand,” he said.
A term in exile seems to be the norm for political leaders in Pakistan. Leaders who go beyond the military’s support and find themselves in court often return to power after only one or two terms. Nawaz Sharif, a three-time prime minister, served only part of his sentence on corruption charges before returning to Pakistan in late 2023.
Former and current presidents Asif Ali Zardari fled to Dubai after their party was rebuked by the generals. Both are now considered the main planners of the ruling coalition. The Khan’s reputation for cautious politics, based on his promise to replace decades of dynastic politics, makes him reluctant to go into exile.
“I will live and die in Pakistan,” Khan said in a statement issued by his lawyer. “I will fight for my country’s freedom until my last breath, and I hope my country will do the same.”
