The Kaptan has been declared out. Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has been arrested after a trial court on Saturday sentenced him to three years of jail time in the Toshakhana corruption case. The court reportedly also barred him from active politics for five years—effectively ruling him out of the upcoming elections.
The ouster of Khan ‘legally’ has cleared the decks for the homecoming of another former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. And the elections in Pakistan, due to be held in October or November just got a lot more interesting, with the result, slightly predictable.
Khan has been arrested from his Zaman Park house in Lahore, his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said in a tweet. The threat of the arrest loomed large—as Khan has been implicated in close to 170 cases. On Thursday, Khan too, set the stage for what would follow eventually—him going to jail.
“My message to the nation on the ongoing Toshakhana case where I have been continuously denied the Constitutional Right To Fair Trial and not even allowed to present witnesses in my defense,’’ tweeted Khan on Thursday. “The superior courts must intervene immediately to stop this miscarriage of justice in what feels like a military-styled mistrial’’.
The stage is now set for the upcoming elections. Sharif, the lion of Punjab, who is been on self-imposed exile in London is due to come back, rumour has it in September. He can contest elections again--legally. His brother, the current Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif, is due to step down on August 1 for the caretaker Prime Minister to take over. He has already hinted that he will make way for his elder brother.
“You will see that the map of politics will change when Nawaz Sharif returns to Pakistan,’’ Prime Minister Shehbaz said recently. Nawaz was banned from contesting elections by the Supreme Court in 2017 for corruption under the Panama Papers disclosure. However, a new law brought by the government in June, the Supreme Court Review of Judgements and Orders Act 2023, allows an appeal to be filed against the lifetime disqualifications within 60 days.
The question that remains is what next. “[But] whichever way you look at it, election in Pakistan without Imran Khan and the PTI will be no election at all,’’ Raoof Hasan, PTI’s new information secretary told THE WEEK in June. “It is not going to be recognised by Pakistan as well as by most of the world.”
With the court ruling that Khan is barred from active politics—a legal route adopted in politics in Pakistan, Sharif is a prime example, it seems that his political fate seems to have been sealed legally. The PTI, without Khan, may not pull off an election.
His party too, has been under tremendous pressure. Members of his party who have chosen to stay with him, very many have quit, have been arrested. The standoff between Khan and the establishment has only been growing since the fall of his government in 2022. This came to a head when Khan was arrested in May—amid high drama--and violent protests erupted across Pakistan.
The planners wanted "anarchy" and "civil war" in the country, said Prime Minister Sharif. In the crackdown that followed as many as 2,138 suspects have been arrested in five major cities of Pakistan in connection with the May 9 case. For now, Khan will need to return to the pavilion.
