ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s government plans to bring treason charges against its jailed former prime minister. Imran Khan The information minister announced on Monday that he would unlawfully dissolve parliament in 2022 and ban his own political party over alleged foreign funding.
The moves are sure to deepen the political turmoil in the country that has been ongoing since Khan was ousted in a parliamentary vote of no confidence in 2022. Khan, the current prime minister’s main rival, Prime Minister Shehbaz SharifHe remains a popular figure despite a series of criminal cases that he and his supporters claim are politically motivated.
A spokesman for Khan said the government’s move was a desperate response to a recent court ruling that quashed Khan’s previous convictions, and the independent Human Rights Commission called on the government to reverse the plans.
Information Minister Ataullah Talal said the government would file treason charges against Khan, former President Arif Alvi and then-Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri for wrongfully dissolving parliament in April 2022, during Khan’s final days in power.
Tarar also said the government had “credible evidence” that Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf had received funds from individuals and organisations abroad, something prohibited by Pakistani law. The government has also accused the party of inciting nationwide riots after Khan’s arrest last year.
Tarar said the allegations against the party allowed the government to ban it under Pakistan’s constitution, but that the decision would have to wait for the Supreme Court’s approval.
Khan’s spokesman Zulfiqar Bukhari said the government’s move to ban the PTI was politically motivated. “It is a sign of panic as the government has realised that it cannot intimidate or pressure the courts,” he said, adding that the government’s recent moves showed that the country was “under mild martial law.”
Monday’s announcement came two days after a court overturned the guilty verdicts and seven-year sentences given to Khan and his wife. Khan’s supporters had hoped he would be released after about a year of his sentence, but government authorities immediately re-arrested him on charges related to last year’s riots.
The acquittal of Khan and his wife Bibi concerned the legality of their 2018 marriage. Bibi was previously married to a man she claims to have divorced in November 2017, three months before she married Khan. Under Islamic law, there is a three-month waiting period before remarrying.
Bibi said she divorced in August 2017 and argued the couple had not violated the waiting period.
The country’s independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said it was shocked by the government’s decision to ban the PTI and that it should be reversed. “If this decision goes ahead, it will only increase polarization and increase the likelihood of political unrest and violence,” the commission said in a statement.
Khan blames his dismissal on the United States and the powerful military, which has ruled Pakistan for half its history since independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
The United States, Sharif and the military have denied Khan’s allegations.
The violence last year only subsided after the Supreme Court ordered Khan’s release, but he was arrested again in early August 2023 after a court sentenced him to three years in prison on corruption charges.
Khan had been acquitted in recent months in several cases linked to last year’s violence, but his bail was revoked this week in connection with a pending case in the eastern city of Lahore.
The Supreme Court ruled on Friday that it was unjust for Khan’s party to fail to win at least 20 seats in parliament, dealing a major blow to the country’s fragile ruling coalition.
The additional 20 seats would give the party 106 seats in the 336-seat parliament, but they would not pose a threat to the ruling coalition as Khan’s party would need 169 votes to oust Sharif.
Khan’s party had previously been excluded from a system that gives parties extra seats in the lower house of the parliament for women and minorities.
Talal also accused Khan of being ousted as prime minister on Monday as a US-led plot carried out by the military and his rivals, including Sharif, who took office after a February 8 election that Khan claims was rigged.
